Something About you
by Rusala
Summary: A shifty mission, a feeling that you were living a lie, a suspicious team, and an even more suspiciously nice Gajeel. Lucy had no idea what was going on but something, everything, just seemed off. LuxNa first, then LuxGa Setting: somewhere after grand magic games, I'm bad at summaries. Rated M for future langauge and future content.
1. The Dream and a Mission

The warmth of his body, the safety and security of his arms wrapped around her, and the loving, tender, and well-timed sensual touches of his hands were more than enough to have her feel safe, warm, and loved. It didn't matter what anyone else thought about her and her lover. All that mattered was what he thought of her.

His body pressed into her back and his protective arm around her held her in as close as close could get before merging into one. He pressed his lips against her shoulder and trailed slow, gentle, hot kisses that closed into the crook of her neck and Lucy felt as if she were melting. She could feel his breath tickle against her skin with each sensual kiss he placed against her and shuddered in anticipation.

It just felt amazing and she wanted to take those hot kisses to her lips. She wiggled herself from his grip a little and turned around to see his face, but found the room become completely black before she could take a long look at the man she loved. Her eyes were soon penetrated with the bright, early morning light that pierced through her window across from her bed, slowly raising over the horizon. She closed her eyes shut and stretched in her bed, feeling the cold, empty space and frowned to herself.

"Just when the dream was getting good." she mumbled.

Groggily, Lucy sat up from her bed and with tired, shielded eyes from her hands, she glanced around her room to see Natsu, her boyfriend, sleeping on the couch by the same window she wanted to curse for being open and ruining her sleep. She continued to sit there, slowly bobbing where she sat, as she slowly awakened and wondered to herself why Natsu never shared the bed with her anymore. She even wondered to herself why she felt as if she could punch him in the face. She also wondered why she felt so lonely and abandoned when her boyfriend was right there, sleeping soundly with his arms folded across his chest. But lastly, she wondered why she felt as if he wasn't her boyfriend, why it didn't feel natural or nice to be around him anymore.

Lucy decided that it was just her being angry from the morning sun ruining the bit of happiness she hadn't had in a while and decided a hot shower would do her some good to help calm her anxious feelings and wake her up. Moving around to make sure the front door was locked, Lucy glided across the floor and made her way into the shower, purposely leaving the door unlocked and wedged slightly, wondering if maybe Natsu would wake up and join her. But sadly, to her knowing mind, she knew he wouldn't, and sure enough, he didn't.

Quickly finishing her shower, she wiped herself down and exited to fetch her clothes, seeing Natsu in the kitchen grabbing for a glass. Seeing the well trained physical features of his arms and back reach up into the cabinet made Lucy sigh in remembrance, but also, for some odd reason, in indifference. As if she didn't care for him being there. What sort of girlfriend was she for feeling this way?

Looking down on her towel, Lucy thought for a second before she made her way into her kitchen and held Natsu from behind, thinking that everything would feel better if she held him; but nothing felt better, it felt worse. It felt awkward, and it felt as if she were betraying herself or someone for even touching him this intimately with nothing but a towel on. He was her boyfriend for crying out loud so why did it feel so wrong to be touching him this way.

"Morning." she sang, trying to sound as loving as possible. Maybe it was just an odd day for Lucy but she needed to root out where her feelings where. Something just didn't feel right for some reason.

"Morning." he mumbled. The tone in his mumbled sounded distant and cold and it kind of hurt to hear him speak that way to her.

Lucy let go of her grip and forcefully turned Natsu to look at her. She then purposely dropped her towel to let him get a good look at her naked body, desperate for some reaction that wasn't hinting to her guess that Natsu probably wanted to break up with her.

"Go put on some clothes." he said quietly, and turned to look at the coffee pot that had just finished brewing coffee.

Lucy said nothing as she did as she was told. In her naked self, she walked over to her dresser and grabbed for her panties and a pair of black shorts and pulled them both up with ease and wandered to her closet topless with a bra dangling in her hand. It was odd being naked in front of Natsu, but its not like she hasn't been before. As her eyes slowly scanned her closet, Lucy wondered when was the last time she and Natsu had been intimate with each other. Wait. The better question was, had they ever been intimate with each other? No, right? Yea, that's right. They've never gotten that far, but Lucy could clearly remember them experimenting a little with hands and kisses. She was absolutely sure that Natsu had seen her naked a dozen times at least so why was he not looking at her the way he used to? And then that foreboding feeling in her stomach pulled at her again that Natsu was at the point of breaking up with her.

Hearing a knock at the door, Lucy walked over and took a look through the peep hole to see an all too familiar iron dragon slayer standing with his usual, irritated expression, waiting for the door to open. He and Natsu seemed to have been on better terms with one another and he had been coming to Lucy's apartment a lot more often to meet up with Natsu before they gallivanted off somewhere. You could say that they looked pretty close now and Lucy had gotten to known Gajeel a little better too.

Unlocking the door she stepped away and went back to the closet and Gajeel entered to see Lucy topless, scanning her closet like it wasn't a big deal that he was there. Gajeel immediately shut the door and turned to glare at Natsu.

"Oi, hot head, you're going to let your girlfriend stand here copying the ice exhibitionist?" he sneered.

At Gajeel's remark, Natsu looked over to Lucy and then to Gajeel with an upset expression and grabbed the blanket that hung off of the couch and threw it onto Lucy.

"Don't be looking at her like that!" Natsu snarled.

"Wasn't looking, she just happened to be there." he scoffed.

Lucy didn't care. She didn't even feel ashamed that Gajeel had just seen her chest. It felt ok to do so. It felt natural to be topless with him around. Though her heart did pound a million times a second, it felt as if she wanted him to look at her. Was it because of the lack of attention she had been getting from Natsu the past two months? Was it because she noticed how Gajeel would subtly follow her with his eyes when he thought she wouldn't notice? Was it for that reason she wanted him to see? The fact that his eyes followed her gave her the reassurance that she wasn't ugly or unattractive as Natsu seemed to make her out to be with his distance, lack of attention, and always averting his gaze whenever she tried to look sexy for him.

'_God I must be a whore for wanting them to look at me.'_ she thought.

"Lucy, change in the bathroom." Natsu ordered.

"I haven't picked out a top yet." she argued.

Natsu huffed and grabbed a plain red tank top and a white jacket for her and placed them in her arms while quickly ushering her into the bathroom and taking the blanket away as she entered. Lucy had no clue what Natsu's problem was but she didn't protest. Natsu had been acting weird the past two months anyways so it was best not to pry unless he wanted to talk about it.

Looping her arms through her bra, Lucy sighed heavily and looked to the mirror as she clasped the back. She was beautiful. No, scratch that, she was gorgeous. Why would Natsu reject her so much? Maybe she wasn't as gorgeous as she thought. Gajeel didn't even seem too interested in her half naked self just now either so maybe she wasn't gorgeous. Who was she kidding anyways? Its not like anyone said she was beautiful recently, or sexy, or pretty, or cute, or anything to compliment her appearance so maybe she wasn't attractive.

Shaking her head of irrational thoughts, Lucy slipped her shirt on and exited the bathroom, slowly sliding her arms into the jacket Natsu had picked out for her and saw Loke holding Natsu and Gajeel under his arms in a choke hold.

"Morning beautiful." he chirped with his prince-like smile and immediately dropped the two dragon slayers to meet Lucy. Before he could say anything more, she held up a hand for him to keep quiet and motioned to grab her other keys.

"I'm heading to the guild." she exhaled in a bitter sweet tone. "Lock up before you leave."

She grabbed a pair of low, black heels and slipped them on, her lasso, her hip pouch with some spending money, and left with an eager Loki bouncing behind.

* * *

Lucy sat in her usual sport at the bar of her beloved, noisy guild and wondered if things were really ok between her and Natsu. Was six months really pulling a toll on Natsu? Was she pulling him down somehow? Was he cheating on her? Lisanna did give her an odd look the other day so maybe Natsu was cheating. No. Lucy new better than to think that way of Natsu…right? Heaving another heavy sigh for what felt like the hundredth time today, her mind wandered back to whether she was attractive or not. Lucy wasn't vain enough to obsess over her looks but she just felt so unattractive and alone despite Loke pestering her every ten minutes calling her "beautiful" or "gorgeous". As much as Lucy appreciated her spirit's help and concern, it didn't feel right and it didn't fill the void she held in her.

Deciding to get her mind out of the dumps and raise her spirits, she hopped off of her bar stool and skipped along to the mission request board, grabbing a mission that normally would have required her to be in a team, but somehow, Lucy felt that she didn't need anyone. She felt as if she could solo it and come back safe and sound. Where was she getting all these feelings from? Was her magic evolving? Celestial mages were known to be able to scout and sense life or magical presences and other mystical abilities, so maybe she was developing an clairvoyant ability.

Pulling the mission request off of the board, Lucy smiled to herself and nodded until she felt the mission request quickly being pulled from her fingers.

"A mission? When do we leave?" spoke a familiar voice, only it sounded uninterested and bored.

Lucy frowned and turned to her boyfriend and took the mission request back from him.

"I'm leaving. You're not." she huffed.

"But Luce we -"

"No we don't. We never do. As least not anymore. I'm more than capable taking something like this by-" Lucy's words trailed off of her lips and suddenly felt dizzy. She bobbed a little before bumping into Natsu and clutched to him for support briefly.

"Luce are you ok?" he asked with concern.

What was gong on? Why did she feel dizzy so suddenly? Why did it sound as if the entire guild grew quiet? Her ears suddenly began to ring. Her head pounded for a second or two. Her heart rate sped up a bit and Lucy found herself doing the most unthinkable thing ever. She let go of Natsu, steadied her ground, and punched him clear across the face and sent him flying a good four feet. Man-oh-man did that ever feel amazing to do. She felt so satisfied with that punch and wondered how long she had been waiting for that. It was as if all the animosity she had felt this morning were gone and she could breathe with no doubts, no regrets, and most of all no Natsu.

"Luce that the heck!?" Natsu shouted.

"For some reason, that felt so amazing! You have no idea how awesome I feel right now!" she laughed. "I'm Lucy. I'm young, I'm a talented celestial mage, and I am attractive! I was stupid for letting my boyfriend make me feel unattractive and unwanted!"

"Natsu what the hell? You're supposed to be her boyfriend!" Wakaba shouted.

"If I were in your place I'd definitely take advantage of-" Macao started, but stopped as he realized just how creepy his words were becoming. "I mean, I definitely wouldn't have made her feel unattractive!"

"You did what?" Erza growled as she stood before Natsu.

"Wait a minute! Luce what did you say earlier? That we haven't gone on a mission in a while? Are you absolutely sure about that?" he asked eagerly.

"What are you talking about? We went on a mission two weeks ago."

"No we didn't. We haven't gone on a mission since-"

Lucy suddenly felt deaf as Natsu's words muffled out and her vision blurred out into black. Her chest hurt. Her body felt as if it were on fire. She couldn't breathe. She clutched her hands onto the nearest thing she could reach and gasped as best as she could. It was so painful. She felt herself being shaken to death from herself and from someone's strong grip against her shoulders. And then she saw a bright light that burned her eyes and heard a voice calling to her.

"…cy…Lu…cy….Lucy!" the voice shouted.

Lucy awoke abruptly, panting, and gripping onto a pair of arms that held onto her tightly, trying to gently nudge her into reality.

"Hey, it looked like you were having a nightmare or something. Are you ok?"

Lucy trembled and looked to man she called her boyfriend in her dream and immediately looked down to her body. Pajamas, she was wearing pajamas, and Natsu was shirtless. It was a dream. It was such an odd dream. A dream, then a dream that seemed like reality, and then now, reality. It was so odd. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek for a reality check and this time for sure, she was awake.

"Luce, are you ok?" he asked again with concern.

Hearing the familiar nickname he called her by relieved her a bit. Lucy swallowed hard, and nodded her head as she looked to him unsurely. Why was Natsu in her bed? Wait, no, there wasn't any particular reason behind it. Natsu was her boyfriend. It was obvious why he was sleeping in her bed. It was obvious as to why he was holding her so intimately. Natsu moved a few strands of her blond locks out of her face and looked into her eyes carefully as he waited for her to calm down.

"It was so weird. I thought I was awake and then I woke up but I actually wasn't awake and then I woke up and….and…I don't…I don't know anymore."

Natsu exhaled and patted her head gently and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Want some water?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine… I'm just going to go back to sleep…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure." she sighed, and laid back onto her bed with Natsu joining her. She pressed her body into him, nuzzling her face into his chest, and felt his arms hesitantly wrap around her waist in a protective manner, but it didn't set her mind at ease. His arms felt nothing like what she thought she dreamt of and wondered if maybe that dream, though she couldn't remember much, was a premonition that she should call it quits with Natsu or not.

* * *

Later that morning...

It was like her dream was repeating, only in a better light. Natsu wore a cheerful grin on his face as he made coffee in the kitchen, he let her hug him from behind and he did look at her naked self, but he didn't do anything. He joked with her and told her to get ready before they headed to the guild, he playfully hugged her, he slapped her butt and kissed her cheek, he called her beautiful, this was definitely her reality. There was no way Natsu would have treated her coldly and there was no way he would have rejected her. But why couldn't Lucy shake the feeling that she couldn't accept or appreciate what Natsu had to offer? He felt like, and was, the perfect boyfriend, even if he was dense at times.

Tossing on some white jeans, black boots, a blue shirt and white jacket, Lucy grabbed for her keys, her hip pouch with money, and waited for Natsu as he sucked at the flames that came from her gas stove.

"Ok, I'm done eating!" he chirped and grabbed her hand to pull her out of the door.

* * *

Upon reaching the guild, Natsu pulled her into his arms and carried her through the threshold catching the attention of everyone in the guild.

"Natsu this is embarrassing!" she whined.

"No its not!" he said with a wide grin and trotted along.

"Well look at the lovebirds." Wakaba called out.

"If you plan on having children be sure to get married first." Macao chided.

This really was different compared to her dream. She and Natsu were an item and everything felt so alive and colorful, but Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that being with Natsu didn't feel as right as it did half a year ago and the past two months did feel off. Maybe she was hitting the wall that told her to move onto the next step of their relationship instead of playing and touching - that they should go all the way. Maybe that would spice up their relationship and kick it back into what it used to be and how if used to feel. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so off about being with Natsu.

"Natsu, Lucy, its about time! Master has been waiting for you two." Mira lectured and pointed into the direction they needed to be.

"Sure thing." Natsu beamed and carried Lucy into the direction he was pointed.

Kicking the door at the end of the hall open, Natsu cheerfully waltzed in with Lucy still in his arms.

"Yo! We're here!"

"Natsu put me down!" Lucy huffed.

"God you two are gross." scoffed a low, snarky voice Lucy knew belonged to the other male, dragon slayer.

"Good afternoon Lucy." Pantherlily civilly commented.

Lucy nodded towards the little black exceed and worriedly glanced between the fight that was about to start any minute and feared for her position in Natsu's arms.

"You're just jealous because we're so in love." Natsu teased.

Gajeel's brow twitched and a smirk formed on is angry features.

"Whatever. Sappy shit like love is for losers and I'm a winner so what does that say about you?" Gajeel sneered.

"Say that again you-"

"Stop it! Whatever it is stop it! I don't want to be caught in the middle!" Lucy wailed.

"Oh, sorry Luce."

Natsu placed Lucy onto her feet and turned to meet Gajeel again.

"Say that again you piece of-"

"He just continued from where he left off!" Lucy wailed again.

"Enough!" Makarov said gruffly, and crushed Natsu beneath a giant palm. "Now then, I've called you here because I have a mission for you."

"A mission?" Lucy chirped curiously.

"Yes a mission. I've already briefed Wendy, Erza, Gray, and Lisanna and they have already left to pack for tomorrow's departure."

"Why so many people?" Lucy asked.

"The client is a researcher searching for a specific liquid that cures all ailments and curses. He requested Fairy Tail specifically and is willing to pay forty million jewels if we-"

"That's so much money!" Lucy said with disbelief. With so much money being the reward, there had to have been a catch.

"If his research is correct and if we are able to bring the liquid to him, this man will not only endorse us for the rest of his life, he will be mass producing a new line of medication that could save countless of lives and we'll receive a fifty percent profit from it. In any case, it's a rough mission and we need a large team of skilled mages to go. Do you accept?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Natsu grunted eagerly as he desperately tried to wiggle out from Makarov's giant fist.

"You had me at money." Gajeel nodded.

"I go where Gajeel goes." Pantherlily commented.

"It sounds too shifty. A liquid that cures all ailments and curses is really shifty. If you wanted a large team of skilled mages then clearly I'm not cut out for-"

"You are especially needed for this mission Lucy and you are very skilled. Don't sell yourself short." Makarov said in a reassuring gesture. "The man who requested this mission shall remain anonymous to you but I have the details and history written in a book that Erza is responsible for. She is your team leader and I am appointing Gajeel as her second in command."

"What!? Gramps that's unfair! If anyone should be her second in command its gonna be-"

"Gajeel" Makarov finished for him. "Natsu you are without a doubt a powerful mage but I need someone with as much war and tactical experience as Erza."

"Not to mention I'm technically an S-class mage and you aren't" Gajeel sneered.

"That's it! If you want a fight you'll get one!" Natsu roared, but was smashed down again by a large fist to the ground.

"Lucy my dear, your role in this mission is a very important one. As a celestial mage your soul and magic is connected to this world and the next. The journey to the golden ring fountain will be a long and stressful one and only a celestial mage can activate the waters to be pulled and harvested. Do you accept?"

"Master, its too shifty and seems too good to be true. I've heard of the golden ring fountain but only in the stories my mother told me. It could be long gone by now or it could be there but regardless of my presence it probably won't pump anything. How am I supposed to even get them to pump?!"

"Lucy, I'm sure if its you, you'll find a way. The instructions are in a scroll for you and also in the book and I'm sure you could understand them."

Lucy thought hard for a moment on how shifty the mission sounded. Lucy knew better than anyone that regardless of the mission level, a complication could arise. Lucy knew that even the most specific, laid out journeys, always lead to side tracks or detours. No mission was trustworthy upon further thought and research into it but something just felt off.

"The journey there would take about three months and searching on foot could take a couple of months. There's the influx of monsters and then there are probably some dark guilds too. There there's the life span of the water and-"

"Lucy, I wouldn't ask the for impossible if I didn't think any of my children could do it." Makarov said with large smile and popped a pipe into his mouth. "I have the utmost confidence in all of you for the completion of this mission."

"C'mon Luce, its an adventure! Its not like you to chicken out on something like this! Fairy Tail's strongest team will be there and so will Wendy, Lisanna, and sadly, Gajeel." Natsu beamed.

"What did you just say?" Gajeel snarled.

Somehow, Lucy felt as if she couldn't really believe in Natsu's words. It must have been from the sad state of being pushed and crushed under Makarov's giant hand did it seem less believable. His smile and his reassuring words were definitely a Natsu thing, but just something about it made Lucy's reservations even more pressing. She lifted her gaze from Natsu's smile and slowly looked to Gajeel, of all people to look at, and felt as if the answer she had been looking for was with him.

Gajeel stood there, looking as grumpy as when she and Natsu had entered the room, but something about the look in the red eyes he flicked to her seemed very, understanding. Maybe more knowing? Was there consideration or concern he was trying showing to her? That was an impossible thought. Even if he and Natsu had been growing closer the past few months it didn't mean she and Gajeel were. A decision as simple as this would have had him teasing or berating Lucy to hurry up and take it but he didn't say anything. In fact, why didn't he say anything? There had to be something more if he didn't say anything. Maybe he knew something and kept quiet about it. Maybe there was something extra or hidden within the lines of the task they were presented. In any case, something about his eyes told her that she would be safe and that the mission would go well.

But what was with the foreboding feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. If felt as if tomorrow was a bad day to leave. It felt as if something would happen if they didn't leave tonight instead. Lucy bit her lower lip and looked to Makarov one last time before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Ok. Let's do it. But not tomorrow morning."

"That's my Luce-" Natsu started but was cut off as she flat out ignored him.

Makarov raised a curious brow to Lucy but said nothing as he let her continue.

"I can't explain it…but it doesn't feel safe to leave in the morning tomorrow…we need to leave tonight…or maybe I'm just paranoid…"

Makarov nodded his head in understanding and removed the pipe from within his mouth to draw a magic circle in mid air. He then took the pipe back into his mouth and blew four large bubbles that were sucked into the magical circle and disappeared.

"Alright, message sent. Everyone will take the last train to Clover town tonight. Erza will brief you once you arrive in Clover town."

Just like that, the game plan was changed? Just like that, Makarov accommodated her wishes for the mission? Things really didn't feel right but if her closest, strongest friends were going to be there, then it should be alright…right?

* * *

Later that evening...

"Flame brain don't you dare throw up on me!" Gray chided as everyone comfortably sat in their seats within the train with Natsu as the only exception. As usual, the poor dragon slayer did awful with transportation but Gajeel seemed to have been holding up as well as Wendy. Lucy allowed Natsu to lay his head onto her lap and faced directly towards Gray in case of an emergency vomit case.

"Wendy, could you please cast Troia so Natsu would be fine for the trip?" asked a bouncy Lisanna.

"If I use it now I'll have to do it again closer to the end of the train ride. Its a long journey and Clover town is just one of the many stops we'll have to make. I'm sorry but Natsu needs to wait until we get at least halfway to Clover town." Wendy apologized.

"There's no need to apologize Wendy! Its just as you said. This is a long journey. Wasting too much magic in the beginning will only make things harder in the end. So what if he gets motion sickness? He's fine the moment the train stops moving so leave him be." Charle insisted.

"Charle why do you have to be so mean? If I give you a fish would you reconsider and let Wendy cast it?" asked a sad Happy.

"No and I don't want your fish." Charle snippily replied.

"So this mission, what is our objective?" Lucy pushed in. "It's a long journey and master said a celestial mage is needed to activate the waters. Are there any clues or instructions for me to do it?"

Erza looked to Lucy in a fond manner and pulled out a scroll for Lucy to read.

"I'm sure you'll understand when you see it."

Lucy eyed her scarlet haired friend before unraveling the scroll and feasting her eyes on letters she recognized.

"Enochian?" she said doubtfully. "Why is this written in Enochian?"

"We figured you knew." Erza asked.

"What is Enochian?" Chirped Happy.

"Enochian is an angelic language that was passed onto humans from angelic beings. Contemporary scholars of magic consider it a constructed language that was nonetheless viable for magical workings, while other scholars of constructed languages simply consider it a very poor imitation of an ancient language. Not a lot is known about this language but its something celestial mages have seen at least once in their life."

"Can you read it?"

"No I can't. I only know two of the symbols here but even the meaning behind them are pretty sketchy because I can't read it."

"How does it relate to celestial mages?" Gray inquired.

"When you think of celestial mages you think of their spirits, their magic, and their soul constantly crossing back and forth from this world to the next. If you had no idea what magic was, wouldn't you say it was a divine summoning I performed if I called out Loki? Remember when we were transported to Edolas through the Anima? My magic and the anima hold the same fundamentals of opening an inter-dimensional gate from one world to the next. It would seem like a divine divide or a divine calling to pull people or things in and out of those worlds. It's a long, hard explanation but you get what I mean right?"

"I guess but it doesn't really answer my question."

"Ok, angelic beings live in another dimension or world right?"

"Yes."

"Ok so what would be your thoughts or evaluation of an angelic being? Appearance? Age?"

"Immortality? Unknown abilities…oh I see where this is going." Gray said with a sly smile.

"Right? Ok so, if those angelic beings somehow passed through the gates that connected their world to this to help or try to coexist with the people of this world, shouldn't there be a way to do it? If there wasn't a basic language to go by, wouldn't there have been something to create and share for future assistance and summoning?"

"So in turn they were really spirits that forced themselves through the gates to give humans the ability to summon them when needed."

"Exactly. The basis of our magic. Loke is a perfect example of -"

A flash of light appeared in the isle of the train and Loke flashed his best smile.

"Did Lucy just call me perfect? Why not dump your boyfriend for me and we'll-"

"Loke, we've been over this countless of times. I'm not breaking up with…" Lucy felt her words cut short and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It was such a freak moment that she abruptly stood, causing Natsu to fall off of her lap, and she ran to the nearest bathroom. Sadly, in her attempt to make it there, she crashed into Gajeel who instinctively grabbed her arms to steady her, and everything she had consumed that day made its second appearance onto Gajeel's tunic, his pants, and his boots.

Her heart sped at the panic and embarrassment she felt coursing through her veins. Of all people to vomit on, Gajeel just had to have been the one. Gajeel, although a good friend or nakama at times, he was much more violent than Natsu. The little things pissed him off and this wasn't a little thing, this was big. What was his reaction going to be?

"_Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"_ her mind screamed.

Lucy panicked more. Her breathing picked up and her head pounded, causing her to lose balance again but Gajeel didn't let go. Just as she tried to open her mouth to apologize profusely, she hurled up onto Gajeel again. Lucy had never felt so embarrassed and so mortified in her life and she was beyond scared to look up at Gajeel. Although he didn't scare her anymore from when he first joined the guild, he did have a temper she didn't want to spark. But what could she do? If she opened her mouth again, more hurling was likely to occur, so she thought she could desperately apologize with her eyes.

Upon looking as apologetic as she could, she studied Gajeel's face carefully. He wore a sour expression on his face and his left eyebrow twitched. His lips formed the hard line of his frown and his red iris colored eyes stared at her through his slitted lids, no doubt taking in her embarrassed and slightly disheveled state. His nose wrinkled and is frown grew into a grimace at what Lucy could only ascertain was because of the scent of the freshly hurled contents of her stomach. Standing before her, were now two Gajeels merging in and out of one Gajeel and Lucy could tell he looked upset. But then again, wouldn't anyone be upset of you threw up on them?

Lucy desperately apologized to him with her eyes as best as she could and felt as she was being forgiven in some odd way. His cold stare remained cold, but something about them made Lucy feel like they understood. Again, what was with Lucy looking to Gajeel for reassurance? Was it because they were somewhat on good terms now? Lucy didn't know but she felt appreciative that he didn't yell at her or threaten to kill her for puking all over him.

In a swift, surprising motion, Gajeel hoisted her into his arm and dangled her against his hip as if she were a piece of cargo or a sack of potatoes and carried her into the restroom where she continued to hurl and eventually dry heave until she was completely empty.

All the while Lucy was in there, she couldn't understand let alone believe Gajeel had just done that. He didn't lash out, he didn't threaten her, he didn't ignore her, instead, he took her to the bathroom and left. Part of her was desperate to apologize but another part of her was too mortified to even leave the restroom and look at him. The constant knocking and pestering from her female friends and Loke would not cease and Lucy figured it was only a matter of time before Erza broke the door down to retrieve her. Lucy quickly flushed the toilet once more, rinsed her mouth out with water from the sink, checked her hair for any unwanted particles of puke, and unlocked the door; sheepishly opening it to see Erza standing with a frown, Lisanna and Wendy with a worried expression, and Loke with a concerned expression but sad eyes.

"Lucy please tell me right now you're not pregnant!" Erza demanded.


	2. Odd Thoughts

"What the-! I am not!" Lucy croaked. "Why would you ask something weird like that!?"

"I'm just concerned. You and Natsu _are _a couple and I wouldn't-"

"Ew! No! God no! Even if I was, wouldn't it be odd for Natsu to be the father?"

Erza and Lisanna shared an uneasy look with one another and glanced to Wendy briefly, before looking back to Lucy.

_'What am I saying?'_she thought.

She was so offended that she was picked out as pregnant and was even more offended suggesting Natsu would be the father. To Lucy's knowledge she and Natsu had yet to actually go all the way so pregnancy was not even on the suggestion list. That's right. Natsu didn't touch her that way. If he touched her he somehow always found a way to avoid touching her for long anyways. And then the idea of breaking up with him came into her thoughts again. Maybe it wasn't just her. Maybe Natsu too, wanted to call it quits if he didn't want to touch her for very long.

In any case Lucy looked to her friends with stern eyes and spoke again.

"Loke knows better than anyone here that I'm not pregnant." she hissed, and nodded towards Loke.

Lucy noticed Erza's shoulders relax but it didn't remove the concerned expression on her face, Wendy looked a little unsure because she was still worried, Loke only nodded in agreement with Lucy, but Lisanna, Lucy didn't like the relief that seemed to wash over Lisanna's face. It was as if maybe it was a bad thing if she and Natsu were having a baby. But, then again, it was obvious the girl still cared for him. Lucy took a little moment longer looking at Lisanna before she saw what seemed like guilt flicker in her eyes and Lucy eyed her curiously. Did she just see something she shouldn't have?

Quickly, Lucy dismissed Loke, and shimmied her way through her friends and wandered back into the main cabin, gulping as she saw a scowl on Gajeel's face as she passed him in the isle. It looked as if he were going to change his clothes with the sack he had slung over his shoulder but Lucy didn't know for sure. She hurriedly made her way back to sit in her seat but noticed Natsu completely sprawled out, leaving no space for her to sit. She looked to Gray and instantly regretted it because he raised a brow and formed a smirk on his face.

"Don't tell me you're-"

"I'm not! I'm not! That's such a stupid thing to ask! Besides something like that…its just weird! Its wrong!" she defended. "Besides, Natsu doesn't touch me so…"

Lucy quickly stopped talking and huffed in annoyance. Yeah, Natsu didn't touch her, and it was yet again another reminder that maybe she should try to get him to do something with her or call it quits. Its not like being with him felt right anyways. But, why didn't it feel right? Why did she feel so offended and grossed out thinking he could be the father of her children - that is, if she decided to have any? No doubt he would be a good father, one day, but it just sat wrong with her. Lucy shuddered at the thought of even trying to go all the way with him and felt like the thought was a betrayal to herself. Again, why was she having these thoughts. It was well beyond the feeling of wanting to break up. It felt like she had been broken up with him for a long time already. Maybe not physically, but somewhere in her heart, it was like they were, and Lucy couldn't explain it. It was those feelings again that seemed to mess with her thoughts.

Her eyes traveled over Natsu, who looked dead against the chair. This had to have been a sign right? Even that dream she had…was that a sign too? It was like she was wishing for them to break up in a dark, twisted way of wishing. Lucy sighed and looked to where Lisanna and Wendy were sitting with Happy and Charle, and then moved to the side as Erza sat back into her respectable seat. She then looked to Natsu again and exhaled in defeat. She wasn't about to move him just to sit. How could she sit with him right now? It felt like the most unthinkable thing to do when there was someone else she could sit next to. Lucy looked around and wasn't about to bother random strangers in the nearby seats either. Her attention then glanced over to where Gajeel had been seated and saw Pantherlilly, who looked away from her, almost as if he were trying not to laugh at what had just transpired not too long ago.

'_Great…just what I need…a seat near the man I just threw up on…and his friend.'_ she thought grimly.

She walked over to the set of seats Pantherlilly shared with Gajeel and cleared her throat.

"Is it ok if I sit here?" she asked, dreading the question to all ends of her being.

"I'm fine with it…just as long as you don't throw up on me." Pantherlilly shrugged but tried not to snigger.

Lucy's face turned red and she pouted in anger towards the little exceed who tried his best not to look at her; still trying to hide a smile and a laugh.

Lucy then took the seat across from where Gajeel had been seated and leaned her head against the cool, glass of the train's window; staring out and watching as the houses and the night scenery whirred past by. It was strange, how one moment she was feeling fine, and the next she was feeling sick. It must have been a freak moment or something because she felt completely fine now.

Her eyes glanced to Pantherlilly, who had moved to sit her on left and seemed to be interested in his little paws, and then glanced to the empty seat across from her. That was Gajeel's seat. Wouldn't it have been stupid or irresponsible to sit this close to him? The better question was, why didn't anyone say anything to her as she came to sit over here? No one stopped her. No one said anything. It was already a given that she was supposed to apologize for the mess she caused earlier, but it felt as if they were silently pushing her to her death, or in this case, to sit with Gajeel.

As she sat there, waiting for her impending doom, another freak moment occurred. Lucy felt tired. Too tired. Almost as if she had just finished a long, tough mission. Her eyes slowly dropped no matter how much she tried to protest to stay awake, at least enough to apologize to Gajeel when she saw him, but she couldn't do that. She just felt too tired for no apparent reason and soon enough, her eyes dropped completely.

The muffled voices in the background slowly came into clear audio as her eyes opened to blurred vision. Why did her body feel hot? Her chest hurt, her breathing was labored, she looked around the room desperate to see someone, to talk to someone or reach out, but no on was in there. The blurry room did wonders on making her feel sick and the light that shone through the curtains made her head pound and slowly, the voices in the distance grew louder.

"_You know we can't do that." _said one voice, who sounded so unfamiliar and very, female.

"_You have to. Its for her sake and everyone else's." _Snarled another, it was clearly male but the tone was overly deep and dark.

"_I can't do that. Its weird." _Argued another voice that sounded completely sex-less.

"_Then you're just going to let her die? Do you think I'm ok with this? I'd kill to be in your spot, and you know my qualms about killing, I have none. So you do this and you do it right or so help me-" _The deep snarl from earlier threatened.

"_That's enough!" _Piped another sex-less voice.

What was with this dream? Who were arguing and why? Lucy sat up from the bed and wandered around the room, feeling her whole body scream at her to stop, and she placed her ear onto what felt like the door to listen further but heard nothing.

"Hello?" she called, and knocked on the door. No one answered and she tried to open it, but it was locked. "Is anyone there? Hello?"

Still nothing. Lucy turned around and walked to what looked like the open window and tried to stick her hand out but couldn't. It was like there was an invisible barrier keeping her in. She was sure it was open, as she could feel the cool breeze enter and relieve her hot skin from the partial burning it was going through.

Lucy wandered back to the bed she had woken up on and wondered to herself. Why was she in a room? It was beyond odd. It was scary in a sense. It was…

"_You can't go in there!" _shouted one voice.

"_I'll decide what I can and can't do!"_ shouted the voice that seemed similar to the snarl she heard earlier.

The room had begun to spin and flash out before her eyes and suddenly felt herself waking up to a pair strong pair of arms holding onto her. She trailed her fingers lightly across the skin and drew little circles into it with the tip of her finger, earning her a ticklish, heated exhale against her ear. It was this familiar warmth that Lucy knew all too well. She scooted her back into it, feeling her body fit perfectly and melt against it. This was the body she knew. This was the body she loved. But who on earth was the owner of the body? Natsu? Lucy had to laugh at that idea. Wait, maybe it was. Lucy did recall a time when it felt this amazing just to wake up with Natsu holding her his way. This had to have been one of the good memories she had with him. Did she really want to break up with him? Was her relationship salvageable or was it not?

"Lucy" the voice behind her exhaled. The tone of voice felt so foreign and held a certain ring to it. It was nothing she could have ever compared it to. It left her wanting to hear more of it. It left her with Goosebumps on her skin. It left her feeling alive and loved and sexy. But why couldn't she identify the voice?

The feel of his legs intertwining with hers made her caress one of his legs with her own in soothing, up and down motions. She shimmied herself down a little to let the protective arms press against her chest, and she trailed gentle, butterfly kisses back and forth on his arm. It felt perfect. It was something Lucy had been craving for, for a while and she was finally getting it. It just felt perfect, until she tried to turn around again and found herself waking up just before seeing the man she loved.

"Why does it end when it gets good?" she quietly mumbled.

Lucy didn't know how long it had been since she had fallen asleep, but the slight jolt of the train had woken her up a little more from her little slumber. Since when did a short sleep like that feel so good? Was it the silence she was immersed in as she slept? It had to be since Natsu was never a quiet sleeper; but it was strange that she couldn't hear him either. He wasn't that far away from her and wondered if maybe she should change her bed into a water bed. If a sick Natsu meant a quiet one then Natsu was definitely in for a surprise when they returned home. Slowly, Lucy stood from her seat and looked back to her friends, each of them sleeping and trying to get comfortable the best way they could. It was the confirmation Lucy needed that they were in fact sleeping and not off of the train.

Snuggling herself back into her seat against the window once more, the feel of the hard seats beneath her were oddly comfortable to Lucy and she felt as if she could fall back into another slumber until she noticed Gajeel, stretched out on the chair in front of her. His head rested against a little nap sack on the arm rest by the isle and his feet were raised onto the chair and bent to fit within the small space. His clothes no longer consisted of is black, iron-studded tunic or his white pants, though his boots remained the same. Instead, he wore a different black tunic with black pants and a brown, belt-pouch set attached to his hips. Lucy was suddenly reminded that she threw up all over Gajeel and wondered if she should just go back to sleep and apologize in the daylight, where there would be awake and alert witnesses, but found herself jump as his eye shot open and glared at her.

Lucy stared at him with wide eyes and anything that was in her mind right now suddenly left her. She just stared until she felt the need to look away. She then looked around quickly for Pantherlilly and saw him sleeping in a curled ball right beside her and looked back up to Gajeel who continued to glare her way.

"…about earlier…I'm really sorry about...um..._that_..." she said quietly and hesitantly.

Gajeel continued to glare her way and let out a snort before he looked to the ceiling of the train. Maybe Lucy had been looking into things too much during her moment of hurling. Maybe his eyes weren't telling her he understood. Maybe his eyes weren't forgiving her. His glare said a lot in this moment and Lucy wondered if maybe revenge would have been in order on his side.

"That was my favorite shirt." he growled.

"I'm really sorry." she pleaded. "I'll clean it for you and everything."

Gajeel lazily looked to her, never changing his angry glare, and Lucy thought she saw something tired or sad in his eyes. But that was just a thought, like usual, and wondered if she was thinking too much into it as usual. Watching his face carefully for something, anything to tell her to shut up and go back to sleep, she noticed his lips curl upwards. The god awful smirk he wore on his face left Lucy with an uneasy feeling in her stomach and frowned towards Gajeel.

"Thirty percent." he grunted softly.

"Excuse me?"

"Thirty percent of what you get from this mission goes to me."

"What?" she hissed, trying not to wake anyone else up in the train. "Why can't I just clean your shirt and buy you a new one?"

"I can't keep that shirt, even if you clean it. The smell is going to stay."

"It will not." she hissed again.

"Says you."

Gajeel pointed to his nose to remind her of his sense of smell and Lucy huffed in annoyance.

"Thirty percent is too much." she complained.

"Not my problem."

"What the hell?"

"Its not a dent in your paycheck or anything. In the end the total split comes up to five million a person. Taking thirty percent leaves you with three million, five hundred thousand jewels."

Did Gajeel just calculate that in his head. Was he even smart enough to do so? Granted he always embarked on high paying missions, Lucy thought he was on the same bar as Natsu when it came to math or anything that dealt with academics. Maybe she needed to give Gajeel more credit than she already gave him. Sure he and Natsu were on better terms and Lucy had gotten to know him a little better as well, but she never knew he was smart enough calculate the total amount they would receive. When all you hear from him is insult after insult, snide remarks, grunts and fights, and bickering, you would think there was nothing more to the muscle man with a stupidity that could rival Natsu's from time to time, but, there were weirder things in this world.

Just for safety measures Lucy quickly did the math in her head, drawing little numbers in the air with her finger along the way as to not lose where she was and glared at Gajeel in silence. He was right. It wasn't a dent in her payment. She would still have a lot of money left for her rent, daily expenditures, clothes, and groceries. But why thirty percent? That was a lot of money. What the hell was he going to use it for anyway? Oh. There was a thought. What did Gajeel use his money for? Surely it wasn't clothing. It couldn't have gone to his rent. The guy didn't seem like the type to splurge on a lavish home. Did it go to his metal snacks? Gajeel ingested metal like Natsu ingested fire, a lot, so maybe it went to metal. Lucy smiled to herself in remembrance that a certain type of metal Gajeel liked was a little pricey and stifled a giggle that he was human, in some way, wanting to splurge on something he liked. Almost like her with certain types of food. If she loved it, she would want to buy more of it. Wait, why did she just think of something like that? To the best of her knowledge, Gajeel wasn't picky with his metal. Right? Lucy's stomach rolled a little and decided to change the thought of where his money could have done to.

After berating her thoughts a bit, another idea crossed Lucy's mind. Where did Gajeel live? Did he have a small house in the forest like Natsu and Happy? The sudden thought of Gajeel living in a small cozy little home in the forest with Pantherlilly gave her the chills and just seemed like the wrong idea. There wouldn't be warmth in the behemoth's cave let alone a bed or a hammock to sleep in. Lucy thought of a large circular nest instead, made of hay for someone like Gajeel in his cave with everything strewn around like when Lucy first discovered Natsu's home. The image of Gajeel in a modern, warm home flashed before her and Lucy felt chills run down her spine. That could have been an idea of what his home looked like, if he didn't live in a cave, but Lucy was dead set on a messy cave rather than a lush, warm home.

Back to her money, even though she would still be financially fine, it bothered her a lot that he was taking thirty percent from her. Quickly deciding to press the matter of her thirty percent being at stake Lucy thought of a good idea.

"I'll wash it and I'll buy a new one for you. But that's as far as my apology is going to get." she leered.

Gajeel cocked a brow to her spunk and simply said again, "Thirty percent."

"You can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because I can blackmail you."

"You've got nothing on me." he scoffed.

"Yes I do. You walked in on me and saw me topless." She lied through her teeth; giving Gajeel the hint that she could spread it around as if she were a wounded gazelle being attacked by the hungry lion.

"What? You remembered?" he said, sounding surprised with a shocked expression.

"… … … You actually saw me topless!?" she hissed with a face so red she could have made a tomato jealous.

Gajeel quickly turned his shocked expression back into that smirk she disliked and heard a chuckle rumble in his chest.

"Good job by the way. Though I have to wonder, why are they lopsided?" he said, pointing to Lucy with a finger that moved left and right towards her chest.

Lopsided? They certainly were not lopsided! And Gajeel was definitely lying to her about seeing her chest. Lucy wanted nothing more than to wipe that dirty little smirk off of Gajeel's face so Lucy, so bold and daring, stood from her seat and moved closer to lean over Gajeel and placed a hand on his chest and another hand by his belt.

"Won't you drop the thirty percent and take back the lopsided remark?" she asked sweetly, and leaned over more, trying her best to show him her cleavage.

"Sorry, what's lopsided is lopsided. And thirty percent is the only way to apologize."

"I see." she said seductively. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did _this_"

Lucy turned her hand into a fist, and shallowly punched Gajeel where the sun didn't shine, causing his eyes to open wide and pop in their sockets. He let out a desperate exhale from the low blow and rolled to the floor.

"I guess I'm not sorry for throwing up on you. And _they_ are not, lopsided." she huffed and moved to a seat that looked empty.

* * *

"Luce, get up, we're here." Natsu said, as he gently nudged Lucy from where she sat. The train had completely stopped and Natsu was back to his old, lively self.

"Hmm?" she groggily hummed.

"We're in Clover Town. Come on. We don't want you sleeping on your way back to Magnolia."

Lucy looked around before she noticed the morning light, shining into the train and then back to Natsu. She knew very well that the train to Clover town was a long one but she didn't anticipate their arrival to be what seemed like the late morning.

Lucy slowly stood from where she sat and felt so exhausted. She couldn't understand why and something about her sudden energy loss just didn't feel right. Was she maybe coming down with the flu or something?

"_Just what I need, a flu on a long journey. I'll be dead in a week."_ she thought sourly.

Lucy looped her arm through Natsu's for balance and noticed he had her bag and his looped onto his shoulder as they made their way out of the train.

.

.

With the sun shining, the fresh breeze blowing, the clean, clear, crisp scent of spring filling the air, who wouldn't want to be outside on a day like this? Lucy, that's who. She loved days like these but in the current state of how she felt, today felt like death to her. Her body felt sore, her bones felt like they could snap at any given moment, and as desperately as she wanted to feel the heat from the sun, the fresh cool breeze ruined it causing Lucy to shiver against Natsu. Why, of all days, was Natsu wearing a coat? If he wore his usual sleeveless vest-cloak, Lucy would have been able to latch onto his natural body heat that could warm any soul in a frozen tundra, but he didn't, and Lucy was forced to battle out the shivers alone.

Silently cursing to herself, Lucy looked ahead to see the title of the inn they were to stay at that night, and her hopes rose to high heaven at the thought of a hot bath and sleep. She looked around to her friends and saw the same faces of relief, wanting to relax before the long journey began, and then she saw Gajeel. It was nothing but a big mistake keeping her eyes on him for more than two seconds because he turned an angry glare to her. If that look didn't say, "I'm going to kill you in your sleep," Lucy didn't know what did. Wait, why didn't Gajeel kill her last night? Or get back at her? Its not like he feared Natsu so he could have gotten revenge last night but didn't. She quickly averted her gaze forward and the group had begun to enter the inn with Erza in the lead, Gray and Lisanna right behind, Lucy and Natsu in toll, Wendy and all three little exceeds, and lastly, Gajeel, the lone wolf. If he was going to strike now, at least the two little beings that seemed to keep Gajeel tamed were in his way. Lucy turned to look at Wendy, who carried Charle on her head, and Pantherlilly who walked beside her and Happy. If they all suddenly moved away from Lucy, there was no doubt that Gajeel could do his worst once her back was turned.

Erza had disappeared to the front desk, and everyone stood in a circle in the surprisingly empty lobby.

"I wonder who I'm sleeping with…" Lisanna chirped cheerfully. "Can I claim Lucy?"

"We already went through this. You and Erza. Lucy, Natsu and Wendy. And Gajeel and I." Gray intercepted.

"But I wanted to be with Lucy." she said with a pout. "And Gray, your clothes."

Gray looked down to see he had stripped to nothing but his boxers and immediately dashed away to retrieve the clothes he had strewn onto the floor.

Lucy remained silent at the sleeping arrangements that had been made. Since when was this decided? Since when did Erza let Natsu and Lucy share a room? Since when did she let them share a room and add Wendy to it? This was new and very strange. Usually on missions Erza was sure to keep her and Natsu away from one another during sleeping arrangements so why was now any different? It could have been just a precaution, adding Wendy into the picture. Its not like Natsu or Lucy were going to do anything anyways so Wendy was definitely the stop gap for them just in case. But, still, it just felt off.

"Ok. Mission briefing at lunch. Here are your keys everyone." Erza insisted as she pushed keys towards everyone. Since when did Erza show up? Wasn't she still at the front desk?

"Ok you know the assignments. Lisanna you're with me. Gray and Gajeel you two are together. Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy, you three will be sharing a room. Happy and Charle are with you guys and Pantherlilly is with Gajeel and Gray. Any questions?"

No one bothered to protest but Lucy felt the need to. It was too odd that Erza let Natsu share the room with her and Wendy. The only exceptions were if it was a large, group room like the time they finished an early mission and slept over at Spa Village.

"Why is Natsu sharing with me and Wendy?"

"Hmm? I thought you'd want to be with your boyfriend." Erza shrugged.

Ok this clearly wasn't an Erza thing to do and Lucy couldn't believe her attitude right now.

"But you never allow that. This isn't like spa village so why are you letting him share with us? Not that I mind but-"

"If you don't mind then its fine. I trust that the two of you will behave."

"That's not the point!" Lucy said, raising her voice a bit. "On the train, you were more than ready to yell at me and probably kill Natsu about me being pregnant."

"Wait, you're pregnant?" Gajeel quirked in, giving her an all too familiar glare. "Just what we need, some pregger to slow us-"

"No I'm not! Erza just jumped to conclusions." she lashed out. "Anyways, what gives Erza? You're not making any sense."

"Do you dare question the decision of the this team's leader?" Erza snarled towards Lucy.

"I'm just saying its weird." Lucy defended. Where was this bout of confidence coming from and how long was it going to last before she let Erza put her in her place?

"Lucy, the sleeping arrangements are final. Putting Gray, Gajeel, and Natsu in the same room is a mistake waiting to happen. Putting him with me and Lisanna is fine but isn't it a bit inconsiderate to have your boyfriend share a room with a girl that's still hung over him? No offense Lisanna."

Lisanna looked away and tried her best to hide a shade of guilt in her face.

"In any case you three together is the best option available. Does that answer your question?"

"If you put it that way…" Lucy muttered, but it still just felt, off.

"Good. And I'll say this again. Mission briefing will be at lunch. No one will skip it, no one will go and refuse to eat, and no one will fight. If you understand that, go settle into your rooms." Erza ordered and proceeded up the stairs with a slightly embarrassed Lisanna following behind.

* * *

Lucy looked to the odd, chicken clock that ticked and tocked away on wall just above the door to the bathroom. That clock was the ugliest thing Lucy had even laid her eyes on. The neck and the face were orange with large, black beady eyes that screamed death. Its fat, round body held the clock within the center, and the unnaturally spread legs and orange wings only added to the image that this chicken looked nothing more than roadkill. It was too ugly for Lucy's tastes and it was too creepy to look at. The dead, lifeless eyes seemed to follow her wherever and whenever she moved in that single room with two beds. She walked passed her bed and to the window and looked to the main door and in the corner of her eye she caught sight of that damn clock, staring at her. Lucy shuddered as she now made complete eye contact with it and felt the urge get out of that room.

"Lucy, is something wrong?" Wendy chirped as she looked up from the book she had brought along for the journey. Charle too had looked up and eyed Lucy in question.

"No I'm fine…that clock is just…disturbing…" she said honestly. In truth, Lucy still wasn't feeling so well but she didn't want anyone to know about it. It was going to be a long journey. Her best decision was to go and buy some over the counter flu medicine from the front desk or the shopette before lunch.

"Aye! Its ugly!" Happy beamed. "If it was a fish though, it would be more fun to look at!"

"Wendy, I'm going to take a little walk. Can you tell Natsu I'll be back before dinner?" Lucy stated.

"Oh, if you're heading out I'll go too."

Wendy shuffled against the bed, ready to get up and join Lucy, before Lucy stopped her.

"I'm not leaving anywhere. I'm just going to the lobby for a drink and I'm thinking of exploring the hotel. You know, in case I want some laundry done or something before we leave. I'll be back in fifteen minutes at the most."

"Oh…ok then… If you insist." Wendy said cautiously.

"Happy, you too, tell Natsu I'll be back later." Lucy ordered.

"Aye!"

Lucy grabbed her money pouch and her keys and waved off to the little dragon slayer and the little exceeds as she exited the room and strutted along the quiet hallway. If Lucy remembered correctly, there was a small seating area somewhere nearby the stairs that held a little lacrima drink dispenser and down the hall past that was a small shopette.

"_You don't know how pissed I am right now!" shouted a voice. _

"_We all know how pissed you are but just grin and bear it." called a voice, trying to sound as soothing as possible. _

Someone was obviously upset in the seating area and whoever it was, Lucy did not want to encounter them. She just needed to mind her own business and get to the shopette. As she passed the little seating area, she saw no on there. That had to have been impossible. It sounded loud enough to have been coming from here. It echoed in her ears as if she were right next to it. Lucy looked behind her and then straight ahead and saw no one in the hall. Was she hearing things? Was there maybe some faulty ventilation and voices traveling through the vents from other floors?

Lucy decided to ignore what she just heard and proceeded down the hall when she heard voices again.

"_Don't tell me to calm down." a low, voice snarled. "You and I both know she's as good as dead if-"_

"_You don't know that for sure!" argued another._

Lucy looked around her again and this time, too quickly, causing her semi sick stomach to get a little more sick than it should. She looked up and saw a vent that let in the cool air and wondered if maybe her guess was right - that she was hearing a discussion from some other place in the hotel. This was too weird. Who was as good as dead? Lucy's knees had begun to knock against one another at the thought that a murder was probably taking place at the inn and wasn't sure of what to do. She covered her ears as she jogged to the end of the hall, ready to grab for the handle of the shopette. She didn't want to be a prime suspect or witness to a murder. Quickly, she entered the shopette and ran to the side that clearly held flu and cold medicine, motion sickness potions, and vitamins. She grabbed two high quality brands for the flu and another well known motion sickness packet and brought them to the counter to pay and looked around cautiously.

The young man at the counter had lacrima induced headphones over his ears and bobbed his head to the loud tunes he listened to; looking dazed and as uninterested in Lucy as possible as she placed her items before him.

"_This is stupid! If I stay with her, she dies?! And what about you? Is it fine if she's with you? You sure she's not going to die since you're obviously a part of this too!" _

"_We don't have another choice!"_

Ok, someone was going to die. Were these two men involved in a mafia or a dark guild or something? Lucy looked around and noticed a larger vent that hung just above the young man's head and she looked to him is disbelief. Not only had he yet to charge her for the items she picked from the shelf, but he didn't seem phased at all by the loud conversation.

Lucy was upset. She felt sick, she felt tired, and she was listening to a conversation she shouldn't have been listening to. She wasn't about to stand there and listen to people argue about letting someone die. Lucy slammed her palm onto the counter, startling the young man a bit and caused him to remove his headphones in a trembling manner.

"Did you just hear that!?" she squawked.

"N-No?" he stammered.

"Of course you didn't! If you didn't wear those damn headphones you would have heard all of it!"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it! Someone is going to end up dead and you didn't do anything about it!"

The young man quickly glanced at the items she had placed earlier and panicked. Someone was going to die of the flu and it was all his fault. At least, that's what he thought.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know someone was going to die!" he panicked and quickly calculated her items. "Here! I've taken off five hundred jewels as an apology!"

"You bet your ass you're sorry! I'm getting management!"

"Please don't! I promise I won't wear the headphones during work anymore!"

Lucy glared to him, huffed in anger, and stormed out, still feeling sick to her stomach. All of that yelling and excitement made her head split in two and she leaned against the wall for support. She just needed to get to the seating area and get a drink so she could take some medicine but she heard another pair of voices coming from the nearby stairs.

"Of course I'm pissed! She punched my family jewels last night!"

Lucy noted how familiar the voice sounded and her stomach dropped to a dangerously low level.

"I'm sure you deserved it some how." sniggered another voice.

Lucy could clearly recognize the voices of Gray and Gajeel and her stomach, no matter how low it felt, dropped so far down it threatened to pop right out of her butt. Just want she needed, a flu, a murder case, and an upset Gajeel.

"She's very lucky right now." Gajeel growled.

"Oh come on, I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"Yeah right." Gajeel snorted.

"You're right haha. You probably deserved it."

There was no place to hide and Lucy couldn't just make a run for her room on the other end of the hall - not when the hall was dividing and merging into itself. Painfully, and slowly, she continued to walk and had not realized just how close their voices were. She felt her body crash into Gajeel's and gulped down a chunk of something that threatened to heave out of her mouth. Her palms grew sweaty, her heart raced, she could tell she was turning pale and then she made eye contact with Gajeel. His red eyes gave her the one-two look down and he flashed his trademark scowl before grabbing Gray by the shoulders, and placing him right before Lucy in a nonchalant manner.

"I know that face too well." Gajeel snorted. "Gray is taking your puke for today. Go on you little nasty. Puke on him." Gajeel ordered.

"Hey! What the! Gajeel no! Yuck! Lucy, please, for the love of god, if you're going to get sick, please, please, please, not on me!" Gray panicked.

Lucy opened her mouth to speak and Gray instinctively shut his eyes, ready for the acid bath of her stomach contents but felt nothing. Gray, nervously, looked through his squinted eyes and saw her upset, red faced expression.

"You guys are jerks!" she screeched and gave them her best, Lucy kick. "But that's not important right now! We have to do something!"

Gajeel and Gray looked to her with concern and listened well to the story about what Lucy had just experienced. They looked genuinely worried and slightly stiff when she repeated everything, word for word. When she finished her story, uncertainty and disbelief written all over her face, she flashed them a desperate look.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Gray looked a little troubled and Gajeel frowned away from Lucy.

"We won't do anything." Gajeel huffed.

"What?! And why not!?"

"Because we don't know the whole story." Gray said, as he placed a soothing hand onto Lucy's shoulder. "You heard bits of conversations between air vents in the hall. What if you missed something important when you weren't standing by a vent?"

"But don't you think its alarming at least? I'm going to tell the manager."

"You're not going to do a thing." Gajeel said with a bored, frown on his face. "Its none of your business. Its none of ours. If you have your facts wrong who do you think is going to look stupid?"

"This isn't a matter of looking stupid. Someone could be dying."

"And someone couldn't. Its not our business and we are not obligated to help."

Lucy looked to Gajeel in disbelief. Did he really just say that? Did he really just ignore her and the possibility that there could be a murder? That wasn't like him at all. Lucy knew him better than that and this was not something Gajeel would ignore, especially if it came from Lucy. She turned to Gray for assistance and he shook his head telling her 'no' as well.

"How could you turn a blind eye to something like this? It should at least be worth investigating!"

"And how long do you think that will delay us from our mission?" Gajeel pressed.

"He's right Lucy. We have three months to travel before we need to spend maybe two or four months searching for the fountain. We don't know how it works and neither do you. It could be another couple of months before its able to work. We don't know and time isn't on our side. We were given a year before the researcher's ingredients expire. So until this mission is over, its none of our business." Gray lectured.

"I can't believe you! You're members of Fairy Tail! Gray, I never would have expected you to ignore it and I especially didn't expect Gajeel to either. I know you better than that but you don't seem to care do you Gajeel?"

With a final scowl to her friends, Lucy proceeded down the hall and into her room where she remained before the lunch briefing.

* * *

"Once we get there, it'll be up to Lucy to get the waters to pump and Gray will be there to frost it for preservation." Erza concluded, and popped a piece of fried shrimp into her mouth. "Any questions?"

"How _is_ Lucy going to pump the water?" Pantherlilly asked.

"That is something we'll figure out along the journey."

"So we're going into this blindly…" Gray said, and looked to Lucy to remind her that they can't waste time. "Lucy are you sure you can't read the scroll?" Gray asked.

"I can't. I have no idea how to read Enochian. Why would Master tell me I have instructions when I clearly can't read them?"

"What about the two symbols you said you knew?" Erza urged.

"Erza, I already said the translation was sketchy."

"Well we need something!" Gajeel growled. "Stop being wishy washy."

Lucy looked to Gajeel and frowned. She still hadn't forgotten her conversation with Gray and Gajeel earlier. She was still upset they wouldn't assist her. But most of all, she was upset she didn't tell management. She could have easily done so but didn't. And oddly enough, she couldn't find it in her to do so. There was a feeling in her stomach that knew she couldn't tell management and wondered if she was starting to agree with Gajeel and Gray - that it wasn't anyone else's business. That feeling and thought only made her feel disgusted with herself but it also made her not want to pursue it any further. There again was that feeling that she knew she couldn't tell management, because it felt unreal and it felt like it didn't pertain to anything or anyone else in the inn. What was she thinking? Her mind was mess. She was getting sick. Her tired body was messing with everything.

"Gajeel, watch it." Natsu warned.

"Lucy, its better than nothing. Gajeel is right." Erza cooed.

"Gajeel seems to be right all the time…" Lucy muttered under her breath in anger.

Lucy pulled the scroll from where she placed it beside her and unraveled it carefully onto the table. The swirls, the images, the straight lines, everything about it looked so mystical. It was such a beautifully written language but it was definitely something Lucy couldn't read.

"Hey doesn't it look like…" Lisanna started but found herself stopping to think.

"Like what?" Wendy asked.

"Its probably just from the angle but it looks like its just a cursive way of writing magic."

Lucy curiously turned the scroll to see what Lisanna was talking about and cocked her head to the side.

"Oh yea, it does doesn't it? But even if we read like we normally do, we might just read it wrong. If it was that easy, wouldn't scholars have translated and published the language a long time ago?" Lucy pondered.

"I guess so." Lisanna hummed.

"What about upside down?" Natsu chirped.

"Its just the same as reading it on an angle stupid." Gray spat.

"So Lucy, what about the two symbols. Can you tell us what they are?" Erza cut in, quickly getting back to the point of the discussion.

Lucy turned the scroll back to its original pose and pointed to a symbol in the corner.

"This here, roughly translates to, "around three day"," Lucy continued, as she let her finger travel along the scroll right across the first symbol, "and this here, translates to "a moon lit night"."

Lucy squinted her eyes against the paper as she observed the other letters and symbols and wondered why three others looked familiar. If they were written another way, she would have been able to recognize them but they weren't. As she continued to squint at the letters, Lucy sparked an idea and grabbed for her keys.

"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Crux!"

A bright light formed near Lucy and very soon did an aged looking celestial spirit appear. His giant, metal cross head with floral-like golden patterns shined as he completely materialized.

"Good afternoon Lucy." Crux greeted.

"Crux, are you able to translate Enochian?" Lucy asked.

"Good idea Lucy!" Happy beamed.

"Nope." he replied quickly.

"So fast! What gives!?" Natsu and Happy whined in unison.

"Crux, I don't understand. Usually you take the time to think before you give me an answer."

"I'm truly sorry Lucy but I cannot. I'm not old enough to know this language."

"Huh?" Everyone blinked in curiosity.

"But you're old." Natsu blurted.

Erza slapped Natsu on the head and spoke for him. "What he means is, you look rather aged."

"Crux, you're a spirit that has been around since the dawn of time right? What do you mean you're not old enough?" Lucy inquired.

"Lucy I haven't been around as long as you think I have. Granted that I am old, I am not old enough to know that language."

"Is there a spirit that is old enough to know that language?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"I shall see." Crux responded, and proceeded to cross his arms and legs, close his eyes, and let a snot bubble form from his nose.

"He fell asleep!" Everyone wailed.

"I'll wake him up!" Erza threatened and released her sword from its sheath.

"Where did Erza's polite patience go?!" Happy cooed.

"He's not sleeping! He's thinking!" Lucy defended.

Crux suddenly opened his eyes and bounced in his position.

"I have found you a spirit who knows the language well."

"That's great! Who?"

"I am unable to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you -" Crux started, but with a flash of light and a poof of smoke, he disappeared and left everyone wondering what had just happened.

"Luce, did you just force his gate closed?" Natsu asked in shock.

"No I didn't." she said worriedly.

Lucy rose from her seat and held onto Crux's key and tried to summon him again. Just as his gate opened, it closed immediately and Lucy looked perplexed.

"What just happened?" Gray asked.

"Lucy?" Erza started.

"Why did it close on me?" Lucy asked with worry. She tried it again and barely a spark of light appeared before it disappeared in a small amount of smoke. "What on earth?"

Lucy tried again and there was absolutely nothing happening for her. Out of nowhere her vision blurred and things were trying to focus in and out and Lucy felt like she could get sick at any moment.

"Lucy?"

"Lucy what just happened?"

"Lucy."

"…cy… Lucy."

Lucy blackouted for what felt like three seconds and blinked her eyes to see she was sitting at the table, food still untouched, a hand cradling her cheek as her elbow balanced her, and her other hand holding onto Loke's key instead of Crux's.

"Luce, what are you waiting for?" Natsu beamed.

"Oh um, what?"

"You were going to call Loke."

"Hmm? Oh yeah…right…" she said, feeling dazed. What was that just now? Did she just day dream through the whole briefing? Just to be clear with herself, she looked around the table and saw everything had been left the way it was just before she thought of trying to call Crux.

"Lucy?" asked a curious Wendy. "Are you ok?

"Huh?" she snapped herself out of whatever daze she was in and quickly responded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Lucy caught another glimpse of the untouched food before her and frowned, and then shifted in her seat to summon Loke. With a bright light, he appeared and Lucy proceeded with the same thing she thought she asked Crux.

"Loke, are you able to read Enochian? Or translate it?"

"Nope."

And just like that, Lucy felt as if she were reliving her day dream.

"Please don't tell me you're not old enough to know the language." she moaned.

Everyone around the table eyed Lucy oddly before darting their glares to Loke for answers they weren't getting.

Loke let a chuckle rumble in his chest before answering.

"That's an idea, but honestly I can't read it. Only Libra and the Spirit King himself know."

"Is it possible to ask them for help?"

"Nope."

"And why not?"

"Lucy, Enochian is considered taboo for you to know."

"I've never heard of anything of this before. Why?" She asked in disbelief.

"Shortly after the change in algorithm and before I succeeded as Leo, my predecessor made sure that anything involving Enochian would be considered taboo."

"But doesn't magic derive from Enochian?"

"It does but why do you think there are taboos? Its there to place a limit on the user. To keep them in check. Libra's predecessor made sure of it before he was succeeded. Libra knows the language in case she needs to change it again."

"Wait…there were predecessors? I thought since you're all immortal you would have had those positions since the beginning of time." Gray asked.

"Wait!" Lucy snipped. "Tell me why its taboo first! This is important!"

"Lucy, its considered to be lost magic. After a thousand years of destruction, there was a Grand Malle meeting to change the properties and the language to stump the immense power and gravity of its side effects. I don't know how you were able to get your hands on one but you can't read it so I don't see any threat but I can't let you keep it."

Loke looked towards the table where the scroll laid and motioned to reach out when Lucy grabbed his hand and gave him an argumentative look.

"If you don't see any threat then don't bother taking it. This is the only clue we have. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do when, or if we ever find the golden ring fountain. The stories about it are just stories with no real detail behind it. Loke, you know me. You know I'd never deliberately use dark or lost magic. I'm asking you as a friend, don't take this from me. I may only know two symbols but even I know I'm most likely reading it wrong, so please…"

The troubled expression on his face said a lot. Loke looked to everyone that sat at the table and shared a torn look with everyone except Lucy. She couldn't explain why, but it just felt like she was being left out of a deep and silent conversation that everyone seemed to be having with one another. It was suspicious, so to say. There was a nod or two amongst them, and uneasy eyes that shook, as if trying not to look Lucy's way. Something didn't feel right and Lucy wondered if there was something Loke wasn't telling her. But the better question hung around like an elephant in the room, was her team hiding something?

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys liked this update. Its starting slow, but there is a good reason to it haha. I appreciate all of your reviews and PMs and I'm excited to update this soon but school is in my way right now. Its the ending of the semester and I have exams, projects/presentations, and papers. Any more updates before December 3 would be a miracle haha. So please wait until after December 3 or November 29. Thank you all for reading and understanding and I will not abandon this fanfic :)**

**If I'm able to update on Thanksgiving, then ok I updated haha. I'll try my best to update on thanksgiving.  
**

**Again thank you all soo soo much!  
**

**-Rusala  
**


	3. Wait what? No!

**11:15 pm**

Lucy made sure everyone in her room was asleep before she decided to explore. As much as she knew, somewhere deep inside her, she couldn't do a thing, and that the conversation seemed unrealistic, it didn't stop her curiosity from taking form. Carefully and quietly, she left Natsu and Happy to snore in the bed she shared with them, and left Wendy who softly snooze away on her bed, curled into a ball with an arm over Charle. It was a cute sight to see but that would have to wait. Lucy wanted, no, needed, to explore. She had to be sure that what she heard wasn't a misunderstanding.

For safety measures, Lucy was sure to bring her keys along as she snuck around and patrolled the halls. She made her way towards the vent by the small seating area and sat down for a good ten minutes, just hoping she would hear something but didn't. Maybe it really was a misunderstanding… No. It wasn't. It couldn't have been. Those men were genuinely upset and worried. Someone was going to die or could have been dying and that wasn't something Lucy wanted to have on her conscience. After being with Fairy Tail for so long, she had a better sense of justice and couldn't let something like this go; even if it meant risking her life or her reputation.

She perked up from her seat, and proceeded down the hall and decided that a perimeter check around the inn was in order. So she changed course, and headed downstairs, clearly ignoring the odd looks she received from the front desk clerks and made her way towards the front entrance.

The night air was chilly and Lucy had to hug onto herself for warmth as she proceeded to explore around the inn. It was bright, for a late night patrol and Lucy looked up to admire the cloudless night with a bright, quarter moon, and a beautiful ocean of stars that twinkled and shined all along the vast, dark sky. It was beautiful, and it reminded Lucy of a lot of things. It reminded her of when her mother had first begun to teach her about constellations and celestial magic. And it also reminded her of when she had seriously begun to study with the mage that lived with her family. Those days were her happiest as a child and Lucy couldn't help but warmly smile at that thought.

Lucy continued to walk along the side of the inn until she came to the backyard court which held an interesting array of gazebos, stone benches, flower bushes and beds, and interesting shaped shrubs and trees. It was quaint and it also reminded Lucy of the house she grew up in. The courtyard and the garden were always the best places to hide and go stargazing. She would lay on the grass, hidden between tufts of lush flower beds and shrubs, and just stare up at the night sky, letting her four senses become overwhelmed in her surroundings. The beautiful sight of the night sky before her, the sound of the wind and the crickets in the distance, the feeling of soft grass that cradled and cooled her skin, and the scent of flowers that gently caused her nose to wrinkle, all played along and complimented each and every second she spent laying there.

But suddenly, the urge she had to continue with her patrol just disappeared. It was like something hit her saying, it never happened, because she was now preoccupied with thoughts of laying in the grass and just staring up at the night sky. And so she did. She walked to the center of the court, and found a comfortable spot to sit, and carefully leaned herself back. What was she doing? Why did she suddenly change her plans to just gaze at the night sky? Why was she so obsessively calm and worry free now? That conversation… It was real. It happened. She heard it. But it wasn't real was it? At least not to Gray and Gajeel.

"_-who do you think is going to look stupid?"_

His words from today rang in her ears and Lucy only felt disappointed.

'_Gajeel…' _she thought solemnly.

After a moment of silence to herself, Lucy's expression turned sour very quickly.

"That asshole." she huffed in annoyance. "Who cares about looking stupid? If he cared so damn much about image he wouldn't sing those tone deaf songs of his! He wouldn't wear that stupid white suit either!"

Just thinking and talking about Gajeel made her sick. But then again, she was sick from the start, she knew that, and blaming Gajeel wasn't going to help her feel any better. But still... That stupid studded face... Those stupid red eyes... That stupid long hair... He was so irritating but she knew he was right about before. She shouldn't do a thing. But why was she still brooding over it? She knew better than anyone he had a good sense of justice. Wait… she did? Where did that come from? She was ok with him since he and Natsu seemed to have gotten close but that didn't mean she and he were too. Sure she saw him do some very stand up guy-ish acts but that wasn't enough to really know his sense of justice was it?

A sudden chill shook through her body and her stomach growled with a volume loud enough to be heard a mile a way. Lucy had only eaten half of her lunch that day and snuck her food into a napkin when no one was looking during dinner. The sight of food made her stomach roll and the last thing she wanted was a repeat from the train. So she skipped eating, like she shouldn't have. But as she continued to stare up into the night sky, the thought of food seemed really nice right about now and her stomach decided to speak to her again. A very new, condescending growl seemed to make fun of her as it pulled and quacked against her stomach. It was loud and it was embarrassing. It sounded more like a loud, high pitch fart than it did a growl. Lucy was thankful for the little solitude she was given in the back court, that is, until she heard the sound of steps scraping against the little cobbled path. They sounded close and Lucy's hungry stomach dropped a low level.

Had someone been there the entire time? Was she right to be worried about that conversation she heard before? Why was it that she suddenly felt like it wasn't something to worry about? What if it really was something to worry about and someone knew that she heard the conversation? Lucy grabbed a hold of her keys and pushed herself up from the ground, ready to engage in a fight. As she quickly turned around to see the mysterious person, Lucy found herself looking at the very man that made her sick. His 'stupid red eyes' looked at her through those dangerous glared slits, his 'stupid studded face', faced her way and showed an odd frown, that 'stupid long hair' blew a little in the wind, and the man before her seemed to have been holding a bag that smelled incredible and made her mouth water.

Gajeel didn't say anything to her, and Lucy didn't say anything to him. They both stared at one another, knowing it was the only thing to do at the moment. As Gajeel flashed his famous scowl with complimentary eyes that said 'what the hell is wrong with you?', Lucy couldn't help but look at him with curiosity and fascination. Her eyes wandered over him and Lucy wondered to herself, that as much as she was pissed at him for his lack of help, support, his teasing from the train, and greedy ways for the past two days, why wasn't she completely upset with him? It was like she couldn't stay mad at him. But she could at the same time. It was almost as if a part of her had forgiven him.

She broke contact with his eyes and looked to the bag that seemed to make her mouth water again.

"…food…?" she mumbled to herself with a voice so quiet you wouldn't think she said anything at all. It was with this voice she knew she would irritate Gajeel right away. There was no doubt the guy had impeccable hearing, but there was always something about the way she used this voice, that he nor Natsu could ever hear her completely. It sounded more like a soft ringing in their ears with a few vowels or consonants but nothing ever solid. It was something she learned to do in order to keep surprises as real surprises, and to keep secrets to herself; but it was mainly something she learned in order to have fun and to have an edge against the dragon slayers she was constantly around.

Gajeel scowled more and cocked his head to the side slightly.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"What?" she said instinctively, and fought very hard with the smile that tried to creep along her lips. What was she doing? First she was concerned with the unknown conversation, then the night sky seemed to consume all of her thoughts in reminiscence, and then the thought of Gajeel made her upset and sick, and now she wanted nothing more than to just make him mad in a way she knew best.

She turned her back towards him, dropped back into her spot in the grass, and continued to stare back up at the night sky, purposely speaking in the same, inaudible voice that would piss any dragon slayer off.

"What!?" Gajeel snarled.

"I'm not saying anything." she huffed, though you could just feel the smile hanging onto her words. "Are you hearing things? Maybe you're going crazy."

"What ever." Gajeel grumbled and was about to leave when Lucy opened fired on the inaudible speech again, trying her best to hide the giggle that desperately escaped her lips.

Gajeel was passed the point of irritated. He was furious. He sauntered his way towards Lucy and bent down close to her, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and pulling her dangerously close to his face.

"You're so fucking irritating! Don't think I forgot about that low blow from the train. If it wasn't for the mission I-" he threatened, but Lucy cut him off.

"You'd what?" she threatened back. "I'm not a threat, I'm just irritating you. And since when do you ever get this upset? You never do. You know I'm just messing around."

Lucy's serious gaze turned into a slight wince as her stomach growled and her head spun and pounded aggressively. She figured that it was about time she needed to take her flu medicine again to relieve the headache and the nausea, and that it was definitely time for her to eat something too. But she didn't move or say anything. She just continued to look him in the eyes.

Gajeel didn't say anything. His threatening gaze and overly disapproving scowl stayed on his face, but there was something in that threatening gaze that didn't seem right. Taking a closer look, though she was as close as she would ever be to the man, Lucy didn't feel any threat or danger at all. Instead, there was an odd feeling of comfort but there was also the feeling of anger that wasn't towards her directly. Lucy didn't know how to explain what she was feeling from Gajeel, but something in her gut told her to apologize anyways.

"…sorry…" she said softly and placed a gentle hand on his - which still gripped at the collar of her shirt.

Gajeel seemed to search her eyes for something but looked away and dropped her back into the grass.

"What ever. Just stop it. Its irritating." he said gruffly and moved away from her ready to leave.

Lucy couldn't understand why she felt so lonely now that Gajeel was away from her, and something in her chest had begun to hurt a little. Her head was still pounding and her stomach was growling even more, but the ache in her chest wasn't health related and Lucy knew that much. It was one of those aching feelings you get when you feel as if you're about to cry, or as if you were being abandoned or being left behind. What was it, about that little attention she received from Gajeel, that seemed to make her feel better and hurt all in one shot?

Shaking her head of any irrational thoughts, she ended up calling out to him, as if it were the most natural thing to do, feeling like she really wanted to keep him nearby.

"Do you think its real?" she asked softly, but loud enough for Gajeel to hear her clearly.

Lucy heard his footsteps come to a stop and drag as if they were turning towards her direction, but Gajeel said nothing. She looked up to the night sky and pointed a finger towards the stars, tracing a few images with each glint they let off.

"It's a legend. There's no proof the fountain exists and countless of people have died looking for it. Those who came back, came back empty handed and that includes celestial mages. But that scroll with Enochian written on it makes me think that maybe its real. But then again, maybe it really is just a legend… … … … … Maybe we shouldn't-"

"What do you think about dragons?" Gajeel cut in with annoyance plaguing his words.

"Hmm?" Lucy hummed curiously.

Why was Gajeel suddenly asking about dragons? Sure, a dragon raised him, and two others raised Natsu and Wendy, but where was the proof? They all swear with their life they were raised by dragons, and being their friend meant believing in them and what they say to be the truth.

"They're real right? I mean… you were raised by one. So was Natsu and Wendy."

"What did you think about them growing up?"

"….that they were mythical, magical creatures that wreaked havock on villages and terrains. That they only appeared in legends."

"There you go." he answered with hurry and irritation. "Just shut up and do the mission. See for yourself what's real and what isn't."

Did Gajeel just try to reassure her doubts? Why was he suddenly being so nice after that little episode? A small smile crept to Lucy's lips at the thought. It didn't feel strange to accept his words or listen to his tough-man's way of reassuring her. As small as it was, she needed it. Anyone could have told her the same thing but the meaning behind it wouldn't have been the same and Lucy knew that. So why was Gajeel's words better for her to accept? No doubt if Natsu said the same thing, of course in his usual, friendly demeanor, she just wouldn't haven be able to feel hopeful about the situation.

Lucy had to ask herself why was Gajeel giving her better feelings of reassurance than her own boyfriend? She relied on Gajeel just now and she relied on him in Master's office the other day. Why? Why did she find herself feeling better looking to him? Asking him for advice? Why did she feel so upset with him when he wouldn't assist her troubled feelings earlier that day? She was mad at Gray for agreeing not to do anything today, but she was furious that Gajeel didn't want help out.

Just before Lucy could continue asking herself all of these 'why' questions, her stomach growled again. How embarrassing. Her cheeks heated a little but she said nothing and kept her silence for a good five minutes before finally saying something.

"Ok then." she beamed.

She sat up from her spot a little too quickly and felt the blood rush to her continuously pounding head, somewhat dulling out each heavy throb, and turned to Gajeel, only to be surprised that he was gone. When did he leave? She would have heard him walk away just as she heard him arrive. Shoes or not, the cobble stone path had a certain roughness to it that any footstep would have been heard. Was she perhaps too lost in her own thoughts that she failed to listen for him leaving? Her surprised face quickly turned into a pout as she huffed at the fact that she spoke to no one in the end. She slowly stood from her spot, and caught sight of something white and round, sitting on a cloth of some kind on one of the benches Gajeel had been standing by.

Grunting with irritation she had begun to walk towards the bench.

"That idiot left something." she snipped.

As Lucy approached the little round item, she noticed a scent that smelled similar to the bag of only god knew what was inside that Gajeel was holding earlier. It fluttered into her nose, and caused her mouth water and her stomach pulled and burned with a need to eat. She continued to approach the item cautiously and found herself looking at a large meat bun still slightly steaming, but on this cold night, it was cooling fast.

How peculiar.

How suspicious.

Lucy walked up closer to it and poked it with her finger, expecting it to explode or deteriorate or disappear is a poof of smoke. But nothing happened. She poked it again and her finger penetrated the soft, warm bread, heating her finger as it poked the mouthwatering meat contents inside. Did Gajeel purposely leave it behind or did he actually forget it? Lucy wasn't so sure. But if Gajeel wasn't around then didn't that mean the meat bun was up for grabs? She bent down and observed it cautiously, torturing her stomach as she inhaled the scent of beef and some sort of savory sauce. She shouldn't take it. Her morals told her not to. But something other than her morals told her she could take it and it would be fine, that Gajeel was nice enough to take pity on her stupid stomach.

She bit her lower lip. Stuck in a debate with herself, she gave it another poke, checking to see if it was still safe, and gave her surroundings a quick scan before slyly taking the meat bun with her hand and giving it a little chomp. One would think to be cautious about eating food left out by someone you pissed off and sniff it first before taking a little bite. But Lucy didn't care. And she certainly did not give it a sniff. She was starving at this point and made a mental note to force herself to eat it even if she was feeling nauseous.

* * *

**The "Nightmare" Later that night. **

Lucy was having the time of her life. She walked hand in hand with the man she loved and giggled as he whispered into her ear. The feeling of his warm breath tickling her neck and ears sent chills down her spine and left her with a bubbly feeling of happiness in her stomach. Occasionally he'd slip in a kiss to her neck or her cheek, or over her shoulder. The man just couldn't keep his hands off of her and she loved it. He was never a huge fan of public displays of affection but in this empty, dark park, he was more than fine with it.

There was something about him that Lucy couldn't look at him directly. Something about the way he took the lead and made her feel special always seemed to make her shy or bashful. But tonight was different. This time in her dream she was going to look at him.

As he quickly lifted her into his arms without so much as a warning, Lucy squealed in surprise and giggled as she was carried to a blanket that had been smoothed out into a small clearing just beyond the forest lining. The trees were lush and the night air was a little colder than usual. Lucy had a clear view of the night sky and stared in awe.

Surprisingly for whatever reason, Lucy wasn't paying attention like she told herself to, until she was surprised with gentle kisses that pressed against her neck. She didn't care about looking anymore as she was kissed from beneath her boyfriend's body. She just felt so elated to be there with him. She couldn't help but think to herself over and over on how she was ever this lucky.

Lucy threw every reservation she had with him and moved her face to catch his lips with hers. They felt so good against hers and his kisses slowly turned into more dominating ones as he began to explore her mouth. Their tongues swirled against each other almost desperately.

He slowly kissed away to her cheek, leading up to the bottom of her earlobe. He nibbled it tenderly before making one slow lick along the edge of her ear, up to the very top. Lucy gave a muffled moan at how wonderful it felt, and felt a small tingle in the pit of her stomach. She managed to break away from his lips so she could explore her tongue along the nape of his neck. She swirled it in circles, pressing firmly against his skin. Feeling his heart beating faster underneath her hand on his chest, she explored up his neck to the edge of his ear like he had done to her. He could feel her breath against his ear which was sending chills up his spine.

"Lucy." he exhaled.

The baritone of his voice calling her name made her smile against his ear in love and pride. Unable to keep his hands at bay, he slowly brought them to the sides of her waist and pressed his chest against hers enough not to crush her. He found her lips again as he explored one hand up the side of her waist. Lucy was slowly losing herself in each heated kiss he began planting on the top of her collar bone, exploring his tongue further on her bare skin that her top revealed. His lips against her were incredibly addicting. Hesitantly testing his boundaries, Lucy felt him trace his hand along the edge of her breast over the fabric of her shirt. Kissing the side of her neck now, he slowly dragged his fingers to the very top of her breast giving a light squeeze. She gave another muffled moan in response.

"Ga-jeel." she gasped in pleasure.

Before Lucy could even proceed with the dream, she knew her time was up as her consciousness drifted in and out, rippling her dream and fading it into the contents of the room she slept in at the inn.

* * *

**8:02 AM**

That morning Lucy awoke to a pounding head, a churning gut, and a sense of dread. The morning light that shone through her window curtains were deemed too bright and made her pounding head grow into violent banging and bashing around the inside of her skull. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that she forgot to take her flu medicine. She felt her body sway though she was sure to keep herself as stiff as a board, and with shaking hands, she carefully removed the blanket from her, trying to keep her movement as minimal as possible. Once her blanket was removed, Lucy eyed the room and its emptiness, and then the ugly chicken clock which read eight-o-five by now.

Gulping down a burning sensation in her throat Lucy launched herself out of her warm bed and into the bathroom, just barely making it to the toilet before the delicious meat bun from last night decided to make its second appearance. Into the toilet, Lucy spat, wiping her mouth, and sank weakly to the floor.

"What a nightmare." she mumbled to herself and felt another purging ready to rock through her body. She quickly leaned over the toilet and heaved more of what she didn't have left in her stomach and was ready to go back to sleep right there and then on the floor.

That dream Lucy had, was definitely a nightmare and it was just downright embarrassing. How could she dream of Gajeel? Of all people no less! To think that she mentally cheated on Natsu with Gajeel! How could she!? There had to have been a reason. Lucy thought hard before coming to the conclusion that her feelings about Natsu must have caused it. She couldn't help but think that she and Natsu were on the verge of breaking up and Lucy needed to something to keep them together but so far, she hadn't done a thing. That must have been the reason she dreamt of Gajeel. She was feeling alone and desperate wasn't she? No! What an awful thing to do. Just because she and Natsu were drifting apart didn't give her the right to be dreaming of another man. Especially Gajeel. He only said a few kind words to her…in his own unique way… He left a meat bun behind for her…though he could have left it by accident… He yelled at her and tried to threaten her. He yelled at her for being "wishy washy". In order for an apology he told her she had to pay him. There was nothing about this man she should have been dreaming of. But why did the dream have to feel so good?

Lucy forced herself to finish her hurling before someone came in and threw their worry onto her and dove for the flu medicine that seemed to work like a charm for the time being. She quickly changed her clothes, brushed her teeth, pulled her hair into little pony tail, purposely leaving her bangs down for a cuteness effect and carefully made her way down to the dinning room. She figured everyone was already there since no one was in her room and skipped along the hall and down the stairs feeling like a brand new woman after taking her medicine. She made a mental note to stock up on a few more bottles before they left after breakfast today.

Turning the corner and seeing her friends already eating, she was appreciative that no one was around for her little episode this morning, but Lucy couldn't help but feel a little left out but at the same time. Everyone looked as if they were halfway finished with their breakfast seemed to have been in a private mood. Lucy swallowed hard and plastered her usual smile on her face and skipped along into the dinning hall.

"Morning." she chirped, startling Wendy.

Lisanna, Happy and Charle said nothing but gave her a smile and Erza, Gray, and Natsu welcomed her with warm smiles. Natsu especially, stood to give her a kiss on her cheek and left to get her a menu as she sat next to Erza at the end of the table.

Lucy had to admit that she felt guilty when Natsu kissed her cheek. Her mind was still loaded around Gajeel and how much she definitely did not see him that way. Gray would have been a better choice. Although he had his exhibitionist ways, he was smart and caring. There was a bit of a attraction between him and Lucy before she and Natsu started seeing each other but they were very good friends now. But still, it would have made more sense if she dreamt of Gray.

"How'd you sleep?" Gray asked and sipped at glass of orange juice like it was the most natural thing to do. Lucy flinched a little but was thankful it went unnoticed.

"Fine. And you?"

"Very good. Flame brain wasn't there to snore like a wild behemoth."

Very shortly, Natsu was already next to Lucy with her menu, insulting and cursing towards Gray who shot back his own insults and curses. Erza gave them her famous lecture and stern glare with their heads locked under her arms and Lucy just quietly ordered her food, reassuring the waitress that nothing bad would happen.

As they waited for Lucy's food, Lucy couldn't help but notice the man of her nightmare and his companion were missing and wondered if she should say anything or not. It was obvious he finished eating and left back to his room but that's not what it felt like at the table. Though the conversations were lively and friendly like usual there was something heavy hanging and it bothered Lucy.

"Where's Gajeel?" Lucy asked with disinterest. Though she regretted ever asking anything about him. Her mind was flooding with the images and feelings of her dream and shook her head out of it, only to notice Gray and Natsu frown a little before changing their demeanor back to normal.

"They left." Gray said with a shrug, though his voice came out a little upset.

"What? Why? What about the mission!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Lucy calm down. The mission is still in motion." Erza soothed. "Gajeel and Pantherlily went ahead and will meet us at the next town. We'll need to charter a boat and its not going to come by easy. The voyage is going to take about three weeks by boat and we'll need to get supplies as well so-"

"Why can't we just walk there?" Natsu complained. "Three weeks is too long on a boat!"

"Walking will take about two months idiot." Gray cut in. "We're on a limited time schedule. Wendy will be there so just chill out."

"How long will it take to get to the next town?" Lisanna asked.

"Two days by foot. But I found a caravan willing to take us three quarters of the way. That will cut the travel time by a day and a half and we'll be able to walk there rest of the way in a few hours."

"How about I run there and meet up with everyone?" Natsu suggested.

"You know you can't leave Wendy and Lucy and taking them with you is just as dangerous."

"What do you mean dangerous? Let him run to the next town if he wants to. He's strong and he can handle things on his own. Besides, you, Lisanna, and Gray are here with us so it'll be fine." Lucy interjected. "But what are you trying to say? That Wendy and I can't hold our own in case we run into monsters or bandits?"

"Lucy that's not what I meant." Erza said quickly. The sound of her voice seemed a little uneasy and that was never a voice Lucy had ever heard from Erza before when talking about magical comparisons. She was much more blunt whether it'd be positive or negative. It bothered Lucy and made her feel frustrated enough to talk back to her.

"That's how it sounded. I'm sorry if you see me as someone weak but to include Wendy into that category is just wrong. I have experience over Wendy but when it comes to a fight she is more than capable to win one over me and she certainly almost won against Natsu last Christmas during the secret santa spars."

"Luce just forget it. Save me a spot on your lap ok?" Natsu said softly and placed a hand on her shoulder. He gave her his biggest smile but it just felt off. The air around the table was just off too. Something just didn't feel right. Since when did he ever speak softly to her about something like this and give up so quickly? Since when was Erza worried about Lucy and Wendy being too weak? Why did Gajeel leave ahead of them? The mission still could have gone smoothly if he stayed with the group.

Lucy exhaled in defeat. She was too tired to keep thinking and add something more to argue about. She couldn't start a fight either since this was going to be a long journey.

"Sorry…" Lucy apologized and remained silent for the rest of the conversation, eating as much as she could to keep up her strength. It hurt her feelings that Erza probably considered her weak and being sick with the flu was only going to make that weak image more definite in Erza's eyes. So she continued to eat as everyone went over the time frame of traveling as well as travel methods.

* * *

**A Day and a Half later at 11:12 AM**

The sound of wood creaking against itself and bumping along the ground really set off the whole, traveler's mood along with the sound of the horses' hooves tackling against the roadway. No one said much so the sounds of everything else had a type of lulling, mesmerizing effect. One Lucy could fall asleep to comfortably, if she weren't sitting with Natsu at the moment.

Lucy looked around from where she and Natsu sat in the middle. The caravan was large, but it felt oh so small inside. There was enough room to fit Lucy and her group inside while there was just enough room up front for Erza and Happy to sit with the leader and strike up a conversation. Wendy, Charle, and Lisanna sat closest to the caravan's back entrance, and Gray sat deep into the corner, closest to the small entrance by Erza and the horses.

The ride to the next town was long, in Lucy's opinion, and she was thankful it was coming to an end. Having Natsu sleep against her lap, which was very normal in these types of situations, only reminded her of how much she didn't like it right now. She never really minded it since there was nothing that could have been done about his body heat. His magic and body were one with fire so Lucy always turned a blind eye because Natsu was her best friend and her boyfriend. She wasn't about to let little things, like his body heat, get in the way of what they had. But Lucy just found him a little troublesome at the moment.

Instead of her lap usually growing sweaty, her whole body was practically dripping by now. She felt hot, tired, and gross against Natsu but she couldn't say anything to him right now. Ever since she started downing the flu medicine yesterday, she didn't need Natsu's body heat to keep her from shivering up a storm anymore. Funny how one of the most common flu medicines could do the trick to settle Lucy down for the better. But oddly enough, even at her best, Natsu never made her hot enough to have her sweat trickle and drip like a human popsicle. Maybe her medicine was _too_ good. She was feeling like she was at her best but the heavy sweating said a lot of other things. Her team said nothing, and never looked her way. The people they shared the caravan with shot her some worried looks but averted their gaze when ever she made eye contact with them. They were nice enough to offer her water and Lucy accepted it willingly. She was literally dumping water from her pores and was beginning to feel dehydrated at this point and she was not looking forward to the walk after this.

She looked down to Natsu who looked a little more distressed than usual and grimaced at the thought that she was maybe the reason. She was probably was sitting in a pool of her own sweat but wouldn't know unless she stood up, but Lucy knew too well her lap was drenched. Lucy exhaled through her nose, trying to calm herself. As much as she cared for Natsu, she wanted to smack him right off of her lap. He made her hot and sweaty, but it didn't feel right.

Before the journey began, it just didn't feel as normal to be with him. This journey was sure going to push buttons and test Lucy and Natsu wasn't it? Were they really at this point now? Natsu never openly showed signs of breaking up or moving things forward and it was Lucy alone who couldn't help herself from thinking other things.

And speaking of thinking about other things, why was she so concerned over Gajeel leaving ahead with Pantherlilly? The better question was, why did she had a nice dream involving Gajeel? She should have had a nice dream involving Natsu. Gajeel wasn't a nice person and that dream she had of him was nothing more than her flu medicine working mysteries on her. But the thought of him kissing her so dominantly yet gently made her heart rate pick up and her face felt hot. Why didn't Natsu kiss her like that? Natsu was always sweet and playful. Sometimes he was hot but he never hit the sexy mark when ever they were together. Gajeel wasn't nice in her dream, he was, unfortunately, extremely sexy. Sure he had a good appearance but that wasn't the 'sexy' that Lucy considered him to be. He knew how to kiss her and he knew where to touch her. That, is what made him sexy.

Lucy looked down to Natsu again and felt extremely guilty. Why was she letting Gajeel occupy her thoughts? The least she could have done was to try and get Natsu to do something more with her. Maybe she should go all the way with Natsu. Someone could only feel satisfied for so long with just oral sex and hand techniques. Maybe she needed to let him know that she was willing to move on further. But the idea of going all the way with Natsu just didn't feel right. She had her reservations about going further, and Natsu respected that; and that is what she loved about him. She definitely wasn't ready to go farther but she was starting to feel a little desperate to save what she had with Natsu. He was kind and caring. He knew what to say to make her laugh and was there for her and their friends. He was brave and loyal and, although dense and childish at times, he was just an amazing person.

Swallowing down some determination, Lucy came to a conclusion. She needed to act fast and work it out with Natsu soon. She knew she couldn't wait until they returned to Magnolia or else it would have been too late. She would need to sleep with Natsu before things got hectic.

Feeling the caravan slow and come to a stop, Lucy looked up curiously as Natsu bolted from her lap. He made it loud and clear that he wanted to be on his feet as much as possible before they boarded the boat. It was going to be a long while before he ever saw land again but his actions were just too desperate. As he maneuvered his way over bags, cargo, and people, Natsu tripped and crashed into Lisanna. With his face lodged onto her lap, and a hand squeezing her breast, Lucy didn't think anything other than Natsu trying to regain his bearing by grabbing onto something. But the expression on Lisanna's face and the prolonging of Natsu's position was what had Lucy's stomach drop to a dangerously low level.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

** Sooooo sorry this is late! I said I was going to try and update this for Thanksgiving but, it was thanksgiving that kept me from writing. Turkey coma! Then i had finals. Passed with all A's. That will keep my parents quiet. Then Christmas came and I was stuck with obligatory present shopping and parties. I just wanted to stay home and pretend I didn't know anyone this christmas. Knowing people meant spending money I didn't have on presents. Bleh. But I guess its ok. I saw people I haven't seen in almost a whole year (friends and family) so yea...I guess its a good thing. Hope you liked this update and thanks for waiting so patiently. I'm getting excited. Now that I posted this chapter I can really give the jump start to the story line XD**

**-Rusala**

**P.S. please forgive grammar problems or misspells. I'm not perfect and I'm bilingual. My English has been growing more and more broken lately even though that's my first language. I'll be sure to re-read all of my chapters for "Something About You" in a few weeks or months... haha My eyes will be fresh by then and I can edit chapters with a better view point.**


	4. Agitation

**1:30 PM**

Lucy, Natsu, and the rest of their team, made it to the next town by foot where Pantherlilly waited by the town's entrance. He was relaxing under the shade of a nearby tree and explained the details to everyone. Though, Lucy paid no attention what so ever. Her mind continued to reel over Natsu squeezing Lisanna's breast "accidentally" and the dream she had about Gajeel. The stress of the walk and her over thinking of things made her feel more tired than when she was in the hot caravan. Which reminded her that she was still sweating up a storm.

Lucy walked along the back of the group with Wendy as Pantherlilly led the way to the boat they had managed to commission. The original plan was to charter one for private purposes, but that route would have meant a six day delay as it returned. The 'rational choice' as so proclaimed by Pantherlilly and Gajeel, was to pay and join a cargo ship heading the direction they needed to go. The ship was already stocked and ready to go and the only thing it needed, was Lucy and her team.

Lucy dragged her feet with each and every step she took, thinking about how hot she felt, and how gross her sweat filled clothes were. She caught the odd stares from people who happened to be nearby and paid no mind to them. She knew she probably looked awful and that wasn't going to change if she lashed out on an innocent bystander. So she kept her silence. She stared at Gray in envy from afar, and wished she could just latch her hot skin onto his to very own, but the joking thought of actually melting the poor guy made Lucy feel a little childish and guilty. He was a great ice mage but Lucy didn't think he had enough ice magic to cool her down.

"Lucy, are you ok?" chirped a concerned, quiet tone from Wendy. "You don't look so good."

Lucy shook her head and looked down to Wendy, and gave her the best smile she could.

"Yea I'm fine. Its just hot today. I guess I wore too much clothing today."

Seeing the odd look on Wendy's face about that statement, Lucy mentally kicked herself at how stupid she sounded. How could cargo jeans that tie at her knees, her boots, and a tank top be 'too much clothing'? Wendy wasn't going to buy it and the look on her face definitely confirmed it.

Wendy looked at everyone ahead of them, and pulled a small shell from her pouch. She then seemed to have blown in it carefully and handed it to Lucy who stared at it with confusion.

"Hold it up to your neck." Wendy whispered and pretended like she didn't say a thing.

Lucy nodded, unsure of what to expect, and held it to the back of her neck and immediately felt a nice, gradual breeze leave the shell to cool her down.

"Wendy this is amazing." Lucy whispered in plea.

"You looked like you needed it." she whispered with a smile.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Lucy asked, as she nodded her head towards the front where Happy and Charle walked in tune with Pantherlilly.

"No." Wendy said quietly with a giggle. "Just don't tell Charle."

Lucy made a small, appreciative smile of thanks and continued to press the shell against the back of her neck, basking in the fresh, cool air. She felt so refreshed and much more alive than she was since they left the caravan. Hell, she would have considered herself to feel like a whole new woman. She just felt so much better and it was all thanks to Wendy. Lucy made a mental note to treat Wendy to something nice as a token of thanks as she kept in pace with the little dragon slayer and her team.

Passing little shops and a market place, this town was relatively bright quite lively. The view of the harbor in the distance gave off a very comfortable feeling and the scent of sea water was easily notable. It was nice. Being in this town was like being at home, without being at home. If Lucy didn't know any better, she would have thought she knew this place like the back of her hand, but she didn't. It was just the feeling this town gave off that was completely familiar to Fiore on many levels.

* * *

**2:00 PM**

Lucy and her team finally made it to the harbor. It was amazing. Ships upon ships, all lined up in a mix and match of large and small. From yachts, to fishing boats, to hobby vessels, and to cargo ships, this harbor seemed to have it all. It was massive in Lucy's opinion. She thought Hargeon had a large harbor but she definitely thought wrong.

Shuffling between people along the harbor, Lucy found herself staring at a decently large ship, with men loading and unloading large amounts of cargo. This looked more like a luxury ship for the rich rather than a regular cargo ship. The ship was nicely lacquered with a sleek, black base and long white accent stripes all along the width of the ship. It held an array of over twelve large sails from what Lucy could see and a crows nest at the peak of the sail. There seemed to have been two levels or floors built onto this ship and gave off the image that this wasn't a cargo ship, but a cruise liner. It was just, stunning and there had to have been a catch. Was this really the ship they were to be riding? How was Gajeel able to manage a deal on a ship like this?

Still paying no attention to what Pantherlilly or her team had been discussing, Lucy just followed them aimlessly, until she realized where she was now standing; on the ship's main deck. How she ended up there, well, that was her fault for not paying attention but in the end, she wasn't lost so it didn't matter.

Erza and Pantherlilly seemed to have been engaged in a loud, friendly greeting with the ship's captain who went by the name of Braht. He was a tall, muscular man with tanned skin, a young face, short dark brown hair, and the brightest blue eyes Lucy had ever seen. It was as if the soul of the sea had blessed him with these brilliant eyes.

Turning her attention away, Lucy observed the ship and walked towards the side railings. She let her fingers glide across the smooth, well lacquered wood and rested her elbows upon the mantle. And though they were still planted to the harbor, the gentle rocking of the ship from small waves put Lucy to ease and felt as if she could just sleep right there on the deck. To think she felt like she was dying from over heating not too long ago.

"Flying through!" shouted a crew member.

Lucy turned her head to identify the voice and saw two men flash by. Both with a hand on the rope and a foot within a loop, they swung with speed and grace as they went from one pillar to the next. The excited expressions on their faces and the boisterous cheers they let out made the action look so inviting and tempting.

"Oi! Gajeel! Bring the tool box will ya'!" shouted a crew man from above.

_'Gajeel?!' _Lucy raced mentally. She had almost forgotten about him but now she felt herself break into a cold sweat. The nervousness of having to see him so soon after her dream made her heart flutter and her stomach drop.

Snapping her attention around nervously, she found who she didn't want to see so soon. Up on one of the many masts, Gajeel wore his signature scowl, a belt of many pouches, and cradled a tool box from under his arm. There was something about the scowl he wore that Lucy knew it wasn't your typical 'fuck off' scowl. If wasn't your typical 'shut up' or 'I hate you' scowls either. It looked almost fake to her. Rather, she knew it was fake. He was actually enjoying what he was doing wasn't he? Watching him sling a rope tightly around his mast, Gajeel took a loose end within his free hand, slipped his foot into a loop made within the rope, and walked off the edge like it was no big deal. Lucy's stomach dropped even lower than it already was and imagined him to splatter all over the deck once his body made contact with it, but to her reality, that didn't happen. Just like the crew men before him, Gajeel had dropped from his dangerously high mast, and swung with speed and grace to the mast across the way. And in that moment, Lucy saw a gleam in his eye for what she assumed was excitement as he flashed on by. Lucy couldn't help but think he looked pretty cool doing it. Not that he was cool in particular. Anyone would have looked cool doing something like that. Right?

"..cy…Lucy!" squeaked a voice from afar.

Turning her head into the direction of her name, Lucy saw Lisanna waving from afar.

"Lucy! We're on dish duty together!" Lisanna shouted in glee.

Dish duty? Just what was Lisanna talking about? Lucy slowly strutted towards Lisanna, glancing Gajeel's way once more and turning her attention back to Lisanna nervously. She had made eye contact, or so she thought, with Gajeel and that was the last thing she needed right now. Giving Lisanna an apologetic look, she asked about what she meant with the whole 'dish duty' line and earned an earful from an eavesdropping Erza about the importance of pulling their share while riding on this ship. Erza and Gray were left with heavy hauling and ship maintenance with Gajeel, Pantherlilly and Natsu. Wendy was to cook with the ship's chef and work in the sick bay with the ship's doctor. Happy and Charle were to help with what they could and were assigned to be messengers - a job idea which Charle seemed to want to spit on but kept her silence - and Lisanna and Lucy were in charge of washing the dishes and cleaning the dining hall after meals.

Easy conditions to fulfill your part of riding a ship right? Yes. But worrisome. Lucy felt so guilty that she had one of the easiest jobs. Washing dishes and cleaning the dining hall? Why was she given an easy job? Not that she should have been complaining but her main reason for concern, was the fact that Lisanna was her partner. Why, of all people, did it have to be her? Lucy couldn't shake the odd feeling that Lisanna was hiding something from her to begin with and what happened on the caravan could have just been accident but Lucy couldn't bring herself to think that. She also knew that Lisanna never had proper closure about Natsu picking Lucy instead. Though she and Lisanna were as close as they could be, there was always that barrier that couldn't allow them to be closer because of the whole, you're-with-the-man-I-like or I'm-with-the-man-you-like issue. There was always going to be an air of awkwardness between them regardless of being nakama - let alone being family.

With a heavy sigh in silence to herself, Lucy smiled and agreed to her job and followed her team on a tour of the ship. As the tour progressed and led to a finish, they were shown to their rooms and were given a time schedule. Lucy and Wendy were to share a room with a large bed and with a conjoined bathroom to Lisanna and Erza's room which mirrored their own. The guys, however, were not allotted the same luxury as the women. Though they had their own rooms with simple single sized beds, they were to share the common shower with the rest of the men. Happy had made a disturbing joke about a sausage fest and was knocked out cold by Pantherlilly, who apologized deeply for his friend's rude comment, and the rest was left at that.

* * *

**11:30pm - 5th Day of journey by boat.  
**

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Though she still had her moments of nausea and flu-like symptoms and her pounding headaches from time to time, Lucy had made the right choice to stock up on her meds before leaving the last town. Lucy and her kitchen partner were surprisingly on very good terms with no air of awkwardness, Natsu was alive and well for the ride since Wendy was there to cast Troia, and everyone just seemed well…good.

.

.

Except for her oddly recurring dreams of Gajeel.

.

.

That night, Lucy awoke to a pounding head. This wasn't something new to her anymore. Though she was used to it, she was still, not used to it. The degree in the pounding seemed to vary and just liked to mess with her. And with a dangerous churning of her stomach, Lucy stood up fast and ran right past the bathroom, as habit would explain it, and as quietly as she could, dashed down the long hallway outside. She reached the stairs and skipped them in two with the help of the railing, and launched herself out onto the deck where she just barely made it to the wood crest mantle of the side rails.

A healthy heaving of last night's stew left Lucy with a burning throat and a sour stomach as she slid to the deck. She felt hot and sweaty but that wasn't anything new. The dreams which had started a week ago had been the bane of Lucy's existence since. Lucy truly thought the dreams were due to her relationship troubles with Natsu.

Come on. Natsu had a room to himself and not once did he ask her to come and see him. Maybe it was too soon to be a couple since the ship left port five days ago… Maybe…but that couldn't have been it. When ever there was time for play or relax, Natsu never really seemed as engaged even with his smiles and jokes. If that wasn't the problem, then he was never around or was too busy. Too busy with what? What the hell could you be busy with during free time on a ship on calm waters? Lucy was too close to bribing Wendy so that Natsu wouldn't have the leisure of having Troia cast upon him. At least then, that would give them some time alone together. But Lucy knew better than that. To hurt someone you love was an awful thing to do.

'_Love huh…'_ Lucy mentally repeated slowly before jumping to her feet to purge over the ship's rail once more.

What was wrong with her? She should have been better by now. Ever since this journey started Lucy had been fighting with spontaneous fevers and purging. She'd awake with nausea or a pounding head, or even both.

Lucy knew that there was something more than a bizarre lifestyle behind this. The only times she was ever very sick to the point where she felt like dying were after she had a dream. There would be a pounding head, pain behind her eyes, and perhaps a round of retching, all of which she could handle on her own. She didn't want to worry anyone and it wasn't like they could do anything anyways, so Lucy kept her dreams a secret and kept whatever illness she had to herself.

It was one thing to have dreams involving her guild and her team, but it was another thing altogether to be dreaming about Gajeel by himself.

'_Not by himself_,' she thought, '_but actually being _with_ me like I'm _with_ Natsu.'_

It was odd that her dreams hadn't taken a turn for the sexual. Though, her first dream about him could have lead to that direction. Her dreams involved other things, like Gajeel taking her hand, or kissing her forehead, or doing something that only Natsu would do. In her dreams, Gajeel knew things about her that no one else knew. If he had his arms around her, he held her tight because that's how she liked to be held. If he gave her a long kiss, something that made Lucy blush if she so much as thought about it, he would end it with a smaller, lighter kiss or an occasional nibble or lick to her bottom lip. Those kinds of dreams bothered Lucy a lot. It bothered her because she was dreaming about another man and she liked it. She couldn't help but want to like them even more.

Lucy let out a dry laugh at the thought of Gajeel being perfect for her. The man had no sense of chivalry to him let alone a personality a boyfriend should have. He was assertive, and Lucy liked that, but he was just as bad as Natsu at times with common sense and just ghastly manners. He had a nice body, one she wouldn't deny, but any girl would think that. Besides, his personality was one that was gruff and one Lucy could never understand regardless of how close, but not close, she had gotten with him. But regardless of all of those factors, maybe, just maybe, Lucy might be having a change of heart…

'_NO NO NO! ARE YOU MAD!? YOU MUST BE SICK IF YOU'RE THINKING THAT WAY! THOSE ARE JUST DREAMS! AND HE IS JUST GAJEEL! NAKAMA! NOTHING MORE! You have Natsu. He's a great guy and you guys are great together. Don't give up what you have_._' _Lucy lectured to herself.

But the dreams just felt too good. Who wouldn't want to think of Gajeel in that sort of light? She felt loved and wanted. The Gajeel in her dreams was the man of her dreams. He knew when to hold her, when to let go, how to talk to her, how to kiss her. Dream Gajeel knew things that Lucy hadn't even told to Levy, and if anyone knew Lucy, it was Levy. So how did he know? Did her dreams gift Gajeel with the power to do things perfectly? Battling with her thoughts, a feeling of guilt crossed her gut. This time not in guilt towards Natsu, but towards Levy. She and Gajeel had a little ping pong of 'I'm interested in you' going back and forth. If Levy knew she was dreaming about Gajeel in _that_ way, Levy would never forgive Lucy would she?

Lucy was pulled out of her musings when the object of her confusion turned the corner and nearly stepped on her. Gajeel blinked down at her, unsure of what to do upon finding her stretched out on the deck.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked weakly through her sore and dry throat. As much as she wanted to sound cool she couldn't and mentally slapped herself. She could have just stayed quiet and that would have been the best thing to do.

"You okay?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Got sick," she said simply and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Gajeel immediately knelt beside her. "Should I get Wendy?"

"Its fine. Its already passed."

"You sure?" he asked suspiciously.

'_What the hell!? When did he get so nice?!'_ Lucy raged in her head.

Lucy nodded and avoided eye contact as she tried to push herself to her feet.

With a stagger from Lucy here and there, Gajeel gently pulled her to her feet and kept any words or opinions to himself. A wave of vertigo hit Lucy hard and she stumbled for a second, clutching Gajeel's arm to steady herself. A hand closed around her elbow, an arm went around her waist, and suddenly Lucy felt like she was dreaming.

"Easy now.." Gajeel guided. His deep baritone stabling her better than any medicine she could buy or that Wendy could have given her.

And it was because he was too good of a medicine Lucy had to create a distance between them.

She kept her eyes locked to the floor, and with her two unsure hands, she pressed them to his chest and pushed off gently. What Lucy knew was a small distance just continuously felt like a crumbling ravine. Those dreams have definitely messed her up if she was this badly in need of his attention. And on and on the only thing Lucy could think of was that this was Natsu's neglect getting to her. What would have happened if it were Gray that spoke to her that night at the inn and not Gajeel? Would she have been dreaming of him instead?

Staggering where she stood, Lucy inhaled the cool sea water and exhaled to calm herself down. She needed to get away from Gajeel and needed to see Natsu. She needed to remind herself just how good she had things.

"I'm going go back to bed." She said with a lopsided grin and trudged away as fast as she could without looking as if she were running from him.

Around the corner, down the stairs, and down the hall Lucy increased the pace of her feet chanting Natsu's name over and over in her head. She had to see him. No, she needed to. She needed to say his name. She needed him to say hers. She needed to touch him and seek his warmth and just have his essence correct everything she had been wrongfully thinking and dreaming of.

Natsu's door was within sight. And Lucy was about to open it when she heard the light creak of his handle and saw the little bronze knob turn ever so slowly. She panicked. She ran right past his door and made a dive for the only hideaway that was close enough to her; the hallway that lead to the other crewmen quarters.

With a hand on her heart and deep inhales to try and slow her breathing, Lucy heard something that only made her heart practically stop. Lisanna's voice.

"Remember, you have to keep your promise. You have to tell her."

What was Lucy listening to? What promise? Tell who?

"Lisanna I…can't. …I can't hurt her…" Natsu said with guilt.

"… but once we reach port you _have_ to tell her. In order for us to move forward you have to tell her. If you don't-"

"I know that but…" he snipped, and followed it with a soft, solemn whisper. "I know…"

"Natsu…I know its hard but… She'll understand…"

"Lisanna…"

"Natsu…"

Lucy peered over the corner to see what was happening when her eyes caught sight onto something else. Lisanna held onto Natsu in what looked like a warm embrace and he returned it. His chin resting upon her shoulder and her body being pulled into him made Lucy's stomach drop.

'_Please tell me I'm dreaming…'_

* * *

**7:15 AM Day 6**

Lucy awoke to the gentle rocking of the boat and the sound of Wendy and Charle chit-chatting softly. Charle seemed to have been upholding an attitude, like most days, and Wendy just sat idly by with a smile and a soothing tone of reassurance to calm the exceed down. What were they talking about? Happy? And Natsu…?

Flash backs from last night's conversation played over vividly and filled Lucy's head with doubt and worry. What was Lisanna doing there and why was she holding onto Natsu? Lucy sat up immediately and tried to make a run for the door when she slipped and fell on the blanket around her legs.

"Lucy! Are you ok?" Wendy shouted in surprise and rushed to her side.

"I'm fine! I need to talk to Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed.

"What's going on!" Shouted Erza, as she burst through the conjoined bathroom with sopping wet hair and a towel just barely covering herself.

"Its nothing." Lucy snipped as she desperately tried to untangle her feet from her blankets.

How could she have been sleeping when Lisanna and Natsu were… wait… Lucy stopped struggling and looked down to the blanket. She then looked back up towards the bed and pinched her cheeks. How did she get back into her room? She was so sure she was near Natsu's room and listening to something she wasn't sure if she should have been listening to or not.

"What is going on Lucy?" Erza questioned, as she eyed the blond skeptically.

"I just-… how did I get here?" Lucy asked hysterically. There was no way she made it back to her room because she definitely would have remembered it. And there was no way last night's secret conversation was a dream.

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night! I'm talking about last night! I was nauseous and -"

"You were sick? Wendy did you-" Erza started.

"Doesn't matter!" Lucy cut in. "Last night I-"

"What's going on?" called a sleepy Lisanna from the bathroom's doorway.

Lucy stopped with her explanation and gave Lisanna a nasty glare before maintaining her silence and removing her blankets cautiously. Last night's conversation was real. Lucy heard it loud and clear and she saw Lisanna holding onto Natsu. Who were they talking about last night? Her? It sure did seem that way. Was Natsu cheating on her?

Shaking her head to make some sense of it all Lucy stood up and stripped her pajamas and put on her black tank top, a white button down shirt, her black shorts, and her knee high boots.

"Lucy, what is going on?" Erza demanded.

As her last boot was on, Lucy turned to Erza.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Go shower." she said with a serious and hurried tone.

Before anyone could call out to her or protest, Lucy left the room and stormed through the hallway and onto the deck where she was greeted with a fresh wisp of morning sea air.

_'That wasn't a dream right? That was too real. How the hell did I end up back in that room?' _

Lucy needed to think. What happened after Lucy saw Lisanna holding onto Natsu? What happened after Lisanna left? It seemed like the more she thought about it, the more pieces seemed to be missing. How could she not have any recollection of what happened? It was like someone purposely tore a page out of a book to keep you from knowing what happened next. What was she missing and why as she missing it? Did something happen that traumatized her into not wanting to remember what happened? Did they kiss in Lucy's view? Did they exchange sweet nothings? What happened?

Lucy was frustrated. She couldn't remember and it was eating away at her insides. She felt like wanting to punch someone because she couldn't remember. Rather than wanting to punch Lisanna or Natsu, she was more upset about not being able to remember. Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Why was she calm about the idea of Lisanna and Natsu together? Could it have been that Lucy had always known or suspected as much?

Walking away from the crew quarter's entrance, Lucy just let her feet take her wherever they could. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She didn't want to see anyone. She needed to be alone to make sense of what really happened.

Keeping to herself and walking between groups of men, Lucy made her way towards the back of the ship. It was a long walk, one Lucy wouldn't go out of her way to take on this ship, but she just needed her space.

'_Think Lucy, think. What happened last night? You got sick, you threw up, you spoke to Gajeel and you shouldn't have but you liked it. Then you ran to Natsu's room but ended up hiding outside like some stalker. You saw Lisanna and Natsu and the rest is blank. Now think! What made you go blank? That sure as hell wasn't a dream even if, for a moment, you wanted it to be.'_

Upon reaching her destination, Lucy looked around for a spot where she could be alone and sighed. There wasn't much on this part of the ship. Aside from the room with the helm, the captain's quarters, extra storage rooms, and large containers of cargo secured tightly with rope, tarp, and chains, this really was a boring, open area. With that being said, Lucy's only option for time alone, was up. She climbed onto a few cargo containers and just hid herself further into the thicket of the cargo. No one would think to look for her there and no one would be able to see her right away. Just as long as Happy, Charle, or Pantherlilly didn't come flying by then everything was fine.

The wind was cool and the morning sun was warm. It had a soothing effect on Lucy and she felt as if she could just lay on top of cargo for hours but she knew that wasn't going to happen. Spreading her legs and her arms, Lucy welcomed the morning sun onto her skin and closed her eyes as she desperately tried to recollect what had happened last night. It was the only thing she could do. What happened last night was real, and Lucy was sure of it. But why was she missing such a big piece of information?

Taking a deep breath in and exhaling carefully, Lucy closed her eyes and slowly replayed everything that happened - from when she first woke up and to the end of the conversation she overheard. She remembered the awful feeling of purging the contents of her stomach and had a sore throat and chest for proof. She remembered the feel of the cool deck against her hot skin. And with tinged cheeks she remembered Gajeel helping her up and bracing her as she felt a wave of vertigo crash over her. Mumbling on about how she shouldn't have liked it, Lucy mentally ran down the hall and towards Natsu's room where she could have gone to, but instead made a run for the hills and down the next hallway.

"_Remember, you have to keep your promise. You have to tell her."_

"_Lisanna I…can't. …I can't hurt her…" Natsu said with guilt._

"… _but once we reach port you _have_ to tell her. In order for _us_ to move forward you have to tell her. If you don't-"_

"_I know that…!" he snipped, and followed it with a soft, solemn whisper. "I know…"_

"_Natsu…I know its hard but…. She'll understand…"_

"_Lisanna…"_

"_Natsu…"_

And that was the end of their conversation before Lucy saw them embrace one another. Every word they said echoed within Lucy's ears as she tried to unravel the hidden context behind it. It was a pretty straight forward conversation and there could only have been two other 'her' besides Lucy and that definitely wasn't the case. If they were talking about Wendy or Erza it wouldn't have taken place so late at night and their overly chummy embrace said a lot more. The only plausible explanation Lucy could come to was the idea that Natsu was cheating on her.

It stung, but for some odd reason Lucy didn't feel any hate or animosity towards them. It was as if a part of her was relieved. But why was there was still a part of her that wanted to fight for Natsu; to get him back around onto her side? Maybe she was just stupid. Natsu was her first boyfriend. Though she knew better than to keep prolonging this relationship, it was the idea that he was her first boyfriend that made her want to try just as hard. But wasn't she just going to hurt herself?

Closing her eyes again to take a deep breath, Lucy saw some things flash before her eyes so fast it made her want to throw up. She wasn't sure of what had just happened and wasn't sure of what she saw, but Lucy was so sure she saw a flicker of Natsu and Lisanna. In a feeling of uneasiness and fury Lucy rolled off of the cargo container carefully and with unsteady feet, ran. Why was she running? Lucy didn't know why but her feet just ran. She saw something in that flash and wanted to be sure of something. Was she developing a new ability? One for foresight perhaps? If she was, she definitely didn't want to be seeing Lisanna and Natsu being chummy together behind her back.

Running, it didn't dawn on Lucy just how long she had been gone. To her, it felt like five minutes but judging by the way the crew had been moving around on deck, it didn't take long to figure out breakfast was long done and it was time for work. But that didn't matter to her right now. Lucy wanted, no, she needed to find Natsu and Lisanna. She had to see with her own eyes what she thought she saw flash through her thoughts. Bumping into a few crew members Lucy turned her head to shout an apology and continued to run.

"_Natsu where are you?!" _she chanted to herself over and over.

If the crew was working then Natsu had to have been on the front deck. Still running, her legs had begun to tire out but it didn't stop her from running. Her heart pounded against her chest. Her lungs were pumping as much air as they could take. And there he was, talking with Lisanna. What where they talking about? Why was he so chummy with her out in the open? Why were they wearing something different from what she saw in her vision? Was that vision an image from the past or the future? Either way it told her enough.

The ship had suddenly rocked violently but that didn't stop Lucy. There was some sort of loud commotion going on nearby but Lucy paid no mind to it. She was too busy fighting with herself mentally. She sauntered her way up the steps and was about to shout to Natsu when a few crew men shouted.

"LOOK OUT!"

Lucy's head snapped into the direction where the shouting had come from and found herself staring with her mouth agape. The sun that had shined so brightly was now covered by the shadow of only god knew what. It was hard to tell what it was. It looked like a giant squid with razor sharp teeth, but that was just a part of it. Each time it rose higher from the water there was something different about it. Below its monstrous squid head, was the body of a large snake with fins and tentacles sprouting from its body. Its sickly green and brown body continued to rise from the water creating an even bigger shadow upon the ship. And with a large opening of its mouth, it screeched so loud the water around them seemed to shake and vibrate.

Whipping it's tentacle onto the ship, it knocked a few cargo containers off of the ship and grabbed for a few crewmen.

Natsu and Lisanna were the first responders. Using her take over magic Lisanna transformed into phoenix and carried Natsu to the monster. And not much longer did it take Erza, Gray, and Wendy to join in. Where was Gajeel? Lucy didn't have time to think about that. Lucy ran away from the scene to get to her room. All of days to leave her keys in there, this was one of them and she was regretting it. As if she wasn't already tired from running to find Natsu, Lucy was pushing it when she finally came to her room. It took only took her two seconds to locate her keys and her fleuve d'etoiles atop of the bed side table and made a dash for it. The ship shook and had her fall to the floor but Lucy got up and ran back to the door only to find that she couldn't leave. Her door was locked. She pushed and pulled and jiggled the handle but it wouldn't budge.

"What the-!"

She pounded, pushed against, and kicked the door and tried her best but nothing happened.

"What the hell! Why won't you open!" she shouted.

Panicking, Lucy ran into the other bedroom through the conjoined bathroom and tried to exit when she noticed that it too was locked. What was happening? Why was she locked in the room? She needed to join everyone.

Lucy heard foot steps stomping away and decided to pound and call out to who ever was there.

"Who ever is out there, open this door!"

The footsteps had stopped and Lucy continued to pound onto it with no progress.

"Hello!? Can you hear me? Help me out of here! I need to help out on the main deck!" She shouted again. Instead of hearing the footsteps come closer, she heard them pick up and run away.

Someone definitely heard her but didn't respond. Did someone purposely lock her in here? Or just pretended not to hear her? Shoving herself against the door she realized this wasn't going to open and needed a running start. Lucy ran to the farthest end of the room and made a dash for the door and shoved her body to it as hard as she could but couldn't bust it open. All she was left with, was a pain filled shoulder that would have a nasty bruise later.

Lucy needed to calm down. It was natural to be angry and upset, but it wasn't going to help, and it certainly was not going to make her kick any better. In fact, it could increases the likelihood of an injury. She was already somewhat useless with whatever she was sick with. She wasn't going to let this get the best of her. Calming herself down, Lucy took a deep breath and knocked against the door, looking for an easy spot that she could focus on. She heard a hollow spot just below the door knob and got ready to give it her best set of kicks.

After a good five minutes it was no use. Why couldn't Lucy kick this door down? A simple thin wood door such as this should have been cake for her. Deciding she was wasting time Lucy pulled out Loki's key and summoned him with all her might, but panicked when he didn't show. What was going on? Lucy tried to summon him again and still nothing. Lucy then tried to summon Virgo, who instantly showed up and raised so many questions that Lucy had no time for.

"Virgo the ship is in danger. I need you to break this door down!"

"Yes my princess." she responded and with one very strong kick, the door was broken from it's lock as if there was nothing wrong with it from the start.

Just what the hell was going on? Not too long ago Lucy tried the same thing and it didn't want to budge. Sure her spirits were much more stronger than she was physically, but Lucy has broken a few doors down on her own. She was strong enough to do that. Why didn't it work just now?

'_I swear I did it right. Why didn't it work? Gajeel's lessons were full proof…wait did I just say Gajeel?' _shaking her head back into reality Lucy chided herself in silence. _'Lucy, get your head out of your ass. _**Natsu**_. __**Natsu**__ showed you how to break a door down…'_

Rushing out of the room with Virgo following behind, Lucy made it to the deck to see Loki already there assisting with fighting off tentacles that tried to encompass around the ship. Why was he on the deck? Lucy would have felt it if he were outside. Why didn't he respond to her call? What was going on? Sending Virgo back into her gate, Lucy called upon Sagittarius.

"Sagittarius! Provide long range support and aim for its eyes!" she ordered.

Sagittarius did as he was told and had begun to provide support from afar.

Assessing the situation, it seemed as if her team had the rest of the situation covered and Lucy was mainly stuck with aiding crewmen out of the way.

Another large tentacle came crashing down onto the deck and Lucy had just enough time to pull a crewman out of the way with her fleuve d'etoiles and grabbed for Taurus's key.

"Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

In a flash of light Taurus appeared and awaited for his orders while talking perversely about protecting Lucy's body.

"Chop the tentacle! Help get it off the ship!"

Lucy continued to move crewmen out of the way who were unable to battle and just provided support from afar when there was an opening to do so.

Another loud screech from the monster vibrated throughout the vicinity as it slammed itself onto the ship. Its slime from its mouth proved to be corrosive as it slowly begun to erode the wood of the ship with each big drooping blob of green yuck it let escape.

"Coming through!" shouted a familiar voice. Lucy turned her head to see Braht and a battalion of crew members wheeling in a bunch of lacrima encoded cannons mounted to wheels and several shoulder cannons hanging off of some men.

In the midst of it all, Lucy still could not see Gajeel and wondered just where the hell he was. Not that the team was incapable of handling this, it just seemed suspicious that he wasn't up on deck with everyone else.

"Braht! Where is Gajeel!?" Lucy called to him as she lugged another injured member away from the main deck.

"He's manning the hold! The son of a bitch up here caused a main break and we're flooding in from the bottom up! He's sealing it off as best as he can!"

"Is he ok down there!?"

"He's fine! He's got it covered! Just keep doing what you're doing up here!"

Lucy nodded and ran back to the main deck to help out more. Seeing an injured crew member by a broken catapult, Lucy ran to him and aided him as best as she could. Counting her spirits mentally Lucy could afford to summon two more alongside Sagittarius and Taurus. A fifth one could work but her magic would drain drastically after that so she needed to think carefully. Pulling the man to hang an arm around her shoulder, she pulled out just in time. Another large tentacle came crashing down onto the deck and smashed down onto the catapult letting debris fly everywhere. And in that moment Lucy felt something large and heavy push against her back and caused her and the injured man to fly forward. The feeling of something cold and hard scraping down her back made her cry out in pain but she still helped the injured man. He too had cried out in pain and Lucy had wondered if he was injured any more along with her or if it was just the force of impact that hurt his pre-existing injuries.

"Lucy! Are you ok!?" Loki shouted from afar.

"I'm fine!"

"Stay right there! I'm coming-"

"Don't come here! Just stay where you are and focus on what you're doing!"

It hurt. It really did. Her back felt as if it were on fire and as if it were freezing at the same time. She had no idea how bad it was and didn't want to think about it but it was hard not to. It throbbed. It burned. It froze. It really did take the breath right out of her.

Quickly moving the man to safety the monster screeched once more and spat up an immense amount of acid onto the deck just as everyone had begun to deal the final blows.

"Open the Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" Lucy called and waved her key.

Just as he appeared Lucy shouted an order. "Scorpio! Use your sand to dry up the acid!"

Lucy normally worked with her spirits rather than just ordering them around, but desperate times called for desperate measures and Lucy had a late start into the fight. The best she could do was have her spirits fight and provide support while she took the job of emergency retrieval.

As the battle with the sea creature had come to a finish, Lucy had returned her spirits to where they came from. Loki checked up on Lucy, but when he felt her questionable gaze fall onto him, he sent himself back as fast as he could. It was obvious he was avoiding her and Lucy was determined to get some answers out of him. Why was he out of his gate? Why didn't he respond to her call? Why did he seem suspicious? Just as she grabbed for his key, Lucy had finally felt her exhaust pull onto her body. Why was she so tired? She had been in much worse situations before and she'd still have loads of magic and energy left. Was it the weird flu she had that was causing it? Maybe she should tell Wendy after all.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead and off of her neck, Lucy felt worry tug on her chest when she noticed something important was missing. Her necklace. When had it fallen off? She was so sure she had never taken it off since the beginning of the journey. She was pretty sure she had it on her before the sea monster attacked. Where was it? She felt like panicking. How could she have lost it?

Lucy had begun to wander all along the main deck. Her necklace was one of the most important things she needed to get through the day. She couldn't remember why it was so important to her, but just the fact that it was. And so her eyes continued to scan the deck frantically. Flipping over debris and kicking pieces of sea monster out of the way, Lucy had begun to feel crest fallen. She felt so upset that she didn't know what to do. She felt as if she could cry any second.

"Luce what's up?" Natsu chirped from nearby.

"Its gone." she said with worry.

"What is?"

"My necklace. Its gone Natsu!"

Natsu looked a little disappointed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Luce its fine. You should be worrying about your back. It looks terrible."

"No!" she croaked. "That necklace means a lot to me."

"Luce its fine. Its just a necklace. Lets just get you to-"

"Forget I said anything Natsu." she hushed. "Maybe you should go and check on your girlfriend."

"Wait, what?" Natsu asked with an intense look on his face. "Luce what are you talking about?"

Lucy walked away without another word while Natsu continued to follow and pester her about what she meant. She continued to ignore him and let her eyes search the floors when something shiny from a distance caught her eye. With her tired body, Lucy ran towards the dead sea monster's mouth and prayed that what she saw was what she was looking for. And it was. How did it get over there? That didn't matter to Lucy. With relief washing over her body, she fell to her knees and almost cried tears of joy if it weren't for Natsu shouting to her from afar.

"Luce I'm talking to you! What on earth are you-"

"Oi Salamander, what's the deal with the deck? It's a mess. You just don't know how to fight do you?"

His rough baritone was familiar and caused Lucy's ears to twitch. She looked to Gajeel and felt her heart flutter at the sight of his wet appearance. His normally spiky hair looked relaxed and sleek. And something about the way he glistened in the sun made Lucy swallow a little hard. And as much as she could ogle him from afar, she couldn't help but feel guilty and disappointed in herself. She almost lost something important to her and now she was ogling another man.

"I'm shameless aren't I?" she whispered to herself.

Lucy wondered if Gajeel had heard her or not as his eyes flicked to her direction and to the area around her before falling back onto Natsu. But what did it matter to her if he heard her or not?

Turning her attention back towards her necklace, Lucy had felt even worse about the condition. It felt as if she betrayed it somehow. The small iron pendant in the shape of a key had been bent and chipped and the small red jewel looked as if it were about to fall out. The chain had been broken and tarnished from abuse and Lucy's heart wanted so desperately to break into two. Why was it so important to her? She couldn't remember the last time she treasured something so much besides her keys. Keys… wait. This was a key. Well, a sad key now. Keys were important to Lucy but why was this one important? Was it something Natsu gave her? Lucy couldn't remember but it held a lot of sentimental value.

The bickering from Gajeel and Natsu could be heard from afar and it was no surprise that no one really cared. Well no one on her team cared that is. Lisanna and Wendy were stuck with handling explanations as to why they bickered the way they did and included Gray as an "X-factor" that bickered with them. Same old, same old.

Lucy played with the necklace in her hand a little bit longer before trying to stand up but fell helplessly to her knees again. She had forgotten how tired she was and thought to just rest where she was until she felt something slimy and warm encompass her ankle.

With a gasp and a shriek, Lucy was pulled across the deck at an alarming pace by what she presumed was the dead creature.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted.

Lucy screamed in fear as she was being dragged and cried out in pain as her back pulled against the deck.

She was moving too fast. She tried to grab onto anything but couldn't. As best as she could, she turned onto her stomach and saw her team chasing after her. The look of anger, fear, or concentration were etched into their faces as they continued to come up short. Gray had tried to create a barrier to lock the creature in place but failed. It forced itself right through and continued to pull Lucy.

Lucy's life flashed before her eyes and saw other things she shouldn't have been seeing and screamed out for one person.

"GAJEEL!" she screamed.

Just as the creature broke through the side railings, it was as if time had begun to slow down. Her heart stopped, her breathing had become ridiculously fast, and the one thing that surprised her the most, where a pair of strong, calloused hands holding on tight to her very own. It was as if only she and Gajeel were capable of moving at a normal speed within this odd space of peril.

"I got you!" he grunted.

Lucy had been suspended in air as two opposing forces pulled onto her. The creature refused to let her go and so did Gajeel. With his strong grip onto her hands, he gave her a fierce look that she took shelter in. A look she knew meant everything would be fine if he stayed right there.

Lucy felt as if she were dreaming once more.

"_Trust me!" he growled, and dived into the fiery depths of the cavern. He held her tight and close, and shielded her head as he let out a roar. Each bit of turbulence Lucy felt didn't matter to her. Gajeel said to trust him, and she did. She believed that they weren't going to die if they jumped into an abysmal cavern of fire. _

And it was with that dream like image that flashed through her head that Lucy believed Gajeel would pull through right here and now. She closed her eyes to squeeze out any tears of fear and gave him a nod.

And then time seemed to have returned to normal. Lucy and Gajeel were falling into the water. He pulled himself into Lucy and held onto her tight with one arm. Lucy in return laced her arms around his neck and held on tight in case something were to happen. And with a loud roar from Gajeel, Lucy knew she'd be fine.

Not much could be remembered after that incident. Lucy felt as if her body had been floating and her chest had felt immensely painful. The murmurs of voices faded in and out of her ears. The dull pain on her back had begun to increase.

'_It hurts.' _she thought and felt herself tear down the sides of her eyes.

And suddenly, that floating feeling she was experiencing disappeared. Lucy coughed and gasped for air desperately. Her body screamed to her. Her lungs burned. She felt as if she couldn't breathe even though she could. Her eyes were blinded by something bright and her body felt as if she were baking.

Each gasp and cough she let out seemed to have made her feel a little better. And to her surprise Lucy felt two familiar strong hands turn her onto her side. They were sturdy and strong, but they held her as if she were porcelain. These were Gajeel's hands. Lucy knew it. She continued to gasp and cough for air before feeling herself purge the contents of her stomach.

It took Lucy a good five minutes to realize that those murmurs she heard were not murmurs, but loud worried voices shouting to her. After her final purging spells, Lucy coughed a bit more before rolling onto her back. The first person within her view was the last person she saw and felt calm that he was there.

"Good. You're not dead yet." he exhaled with a smirk.

She tried to find her voice and could barely speak. "…lace…"

"Hah?"

"neck…lace…Gajeel…."

"Lucy what are you talking about?" he said suspiciously and a little angrily.

Lucy, however, loved the sound of her name leaving his lips. Even if it wasn't a pleasant tone.

"I lost…your present…" she gasped and fell unconscious.

.

.  
To be continued

* * *

**Author's note!**

**Sorry this took so long to write! School has been a bitch. In nursing school your teachers are supposed to teach but they don't! I basically have to read everything and study everything and expect a test. How the hell do you expect me to learn proper techniques of drug administration and dosages if you just tell me to read the book? they seriously have screw looses if they think I'll know everything damn thing that can cause a mental illness in a patient who smashed their hand in a car door. Yeah, that's a rare case but it was a question they threw at my face and embarrassed me with in front of everyone. My clinical rounds will be starting in two weeks and I feel like I'm going to fail because they haven't taught me anything valuable. They just give me tests and expect me to know every damn thing. I bet you that in other nursing schools/programs they teach their students properly. Ugh! Nursing is a passion but I feel like quitting because of shitty instructors.**

Enough venting, long story short i took forever to update because of school. I'm sorry everyone! but i finally updated!

**Hope you liked this update. If not, sorry about that. I appreciate your thoughts so let me know what you think :)**

**-Rusala**


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